John Procario: Freeforms opened October 27, 2026, at the Museum of Arts and Design at 2 Columbus Circle, giving the American designer his first solo museum presentation. The show fills two galleries with hand-bent ash light sculptures, sconces and furniture lit from within, and runs through April 4, 2027.
Key Takeaways
- John Procario: Freeforms, Sculptural Explorations in Wood and Light is on view at the Museum of Arts and Design from October 27, 2026, through April 4, 2027.
- The exhibition is the first solo museum presentation of Procario’s work.
- Flexible LED strips are embedded inside strips of hand-bent ash, so the wood itself becomes the light source.
- A second gallery is dedicated to furniture, including pieces from Procario’s Sculptural Seating series.
- Procario has worked LED lighting into his wooden sculptures since 2012.
- General admission is $20, with Pay What You Wish entry from 5 to 8 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month.
John Procario Bends Ash Wood Close To Its Breaking Point
John Procario builds each piece in Freeforms from strips of ash wood that he twists and shapes by hand into open, looping forms. The technique is a type of bentwood lamination, in which thin layers of wood are bent and bonded so they hold a curve. The Museum of Arts and Design’s release puts the tension plainly: “Each curve carries the evidence of wood bent nearly to the point of breaking.”
What separates the work from conventional lighting is where the light sits. Rather than mounting a lamp onto a sculpture, Procario embeds flexible LED strips inside the wood, so the glow follows every bend without a fixture interrupting the line. The result reads less like a lamp and more like a ribbon of light suspended in the room, an effect the museum describes as the illusion of endless movement.
That approach has a long runway. Procario was an early adopter of LED technology and has been integrating it into his wooden pieces since 2012, refining how force, flexibility and balance interact with light over more than a decade of work.
Two Galleries Move From Light Sculpture To Bentwood Furniture
John Procario’s exhibition is split across two rooms that show how the same idea changes with scale and function. The first gallery centers on suspended and freestanding light sculptures. The second shifts into bright white, lined with metallic wall coverings from Dedar and furnished with pieces from the Sculptural Seating series.
The furniture follows the same logic as the lighting. According to the museum, each of Procario’s Sculpted Sofas takes its shape from the direction and form of its freeform wood base, so the seat is designed around the curve rather than the other way around. Works on view include Vertical Freeform VII from 2025, Freeform Ceiling Sculpture I and Sculpted Sofa I and II from 2024, and Anthropose IV, a 2026 collaboration with Alex Roskin.
For visitors who think of sculpture, lighting and furniture as separate categories, the show makes a case that the lines between them are thinner than they look. A sofa, a ceiling fixture and a freestanding sculpture all come from the same bent strip of wood.
From A Carpentry Workshop To Columbus Circle
John Procario’s relationship with wood started early. His biography from Todd Merrill Studio, the gallery that has represented him since 2016 and supports the exhibition, notes that he grew up around his father’s carpentry workshop.
The Freeform series grew out of Procario’s interest in the relationship between material and the human body, and later expanded into furniture, lighting and sculptural works. Today his practice spans all three, which is why a design-focused institution like the Museum of Arts and Design is a natural home for a first museum survey.
The exhibition also receives support from Dedar Milano, with public funding from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Visiting John Procario: Freeforms At The Museum Of Arts And Design
The Museum of Arts and Design is located at 2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019. The museum is closed on Mondays. It is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday, and from noon to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. MAD will be closed on November 26 and December 25.
General admission costs $20, with tickets at $16 for seniors and $14 for students. Members and children 12 and under enter free. On the first Wednesday of each month, admission is Pay What You Wish from 5 to 8 p.m., with those tickets sold only in person. The museum also runs free general docent tours on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. and Thursday through Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., with no tours on Sunday, November 1.
Pairing Freeforms With Other Fall Exhibitions In New York
Freeforms joins a busy season of museum exhibitions in NYC, and its five-month run leaves room to plan around other cultural stops. Visitors heading to Midtown can pair the Columbus Circle trip with the New York Public Library’s Winnie-the-Pooh centennial display, which offers free access to the original stuffed toys behind the stories.
FAQs
Where Is The Museum Of Arts And Design?
The Museum of Arts and Design is at 2 Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York, NY 10019. It sits at the southwest corner of Central Park.
How Much Are Museum Of Arts And Design Tickets?
General admission is $20, seniors pay $16 and students pay $14. Members and children 12 and under are admitted free.
Does MAD Offer Pay What You Wish Admission?
Yes. Admission is Pay What You Wish from 5 to 8 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month, and those tickets can only be bought in person at the museum.
What Wood Does John Procario Use For His Bentwood Pieces?
The works in Freeforms are made from ash wood, bent by hand into looping forms. Flexible LED strips are embedded inside the wood to light each piece from within.
How Long Is John Procario: Freeforms On View?
The exhibition runs from October 27, 2026, through April 4, 2027, at the Museum of Arts and Design.
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