This fall, The Future Perfect presents Use Me, I’m Fragile, a group exhibition at the gallery’s West Village townhouse that explores the emotional tension between functionality and preservation through the expressive medium of glass. Bringing together works that exist between sculpture and utility, the exhibition examines objects that function, suggest function, or simply carry the psychological weight of use, touch, intimacy, and care. Atmospheric and seductive, Use Me, I’m Fragile leans into themes of transparency, distortion, vulnerability, and resilience, celebrating delicate objects intended not merely to be observed, but lived with.
“Use Me, I’m Fragile… [is] about the conceptual idea of functionality and the space where design, art, and craft begin to overlap,” shares Laura Young, managing director of The Future Perfect. “Glass sits at the center of that conversation because we instinctively think of it as fragile, when in reality it can also embody incredible strength and resilience. I’m really interested in that contradiction, how something can appear delicate while challenging our assumptions about use, permanence, and value.”
At its core, the exhibition is a meditation on glass itself. More than a presentation of objects, Use Me, I’m Fragile considers glass as a material and a conceptual territory, one that is historically rooted in craft while existing in constant conversation with art and design. While glass is often associated with fragility, the exhibition challenges assumptions around strength and utility, asking what makes an object functional in the first place. Is use defined by physical action, emotional attachment, ritual, or suggestion?
Throughout the exhibition, artists engage glass through radically different forms and scales. Lindsey Adelman and Bocci contribute chandelier works that use light as atmosphere and architecture, while John Hogan transforms the familiar form of the chair into a sculptural proposition through a pair of glass seating works. Wesley Fleming, Kiva Ford, and Cesare Toffolo present several glass miniatures, together in collaboration with Chesterfield Gallery. Jonny Campolo presents a stained-glass fireplace screen, and Jillian Mayer contributes large-scale sconces with expressive, colorful faces. In Common With creates a monumental cast-glass portal, while Sophie Lou Jacobsen, Alexander Kirkeby, Lucia Massari, Chen Chen + Kai Williams, Alexis and Ginger, and others continue their investigations into domestic objects and sculptural form.
Moving fluidly between decor, sculpture, and functional design, Use Me, I’m Fragile asks viewers not only how objects function, but why we become attached to them at all. Together, the works suggest that fragility may not be a weakness, but a condition that asks for attention and care.
Use Me, I’m Fragile is on view now through October 23, 2026.
Like what you see? Get it first with a subscription to aspire design and home magazine.