PICTURESQUE COOPERATION
DECO HOME visits Benjamin Ruben’s studio for issue 01/2026. Topic: a picture-perfect collaboration with Thomas Mang.
In his studio in the Au-Haidhausen district, Munich artist Ruben Benjamin staged an exhibition entitled ‘Everything in the right place’.
The exhibition featured a series of limited-edition artworks: five monochromatic compositions in graduated shades of petrol blue, framed in collaboration with architect Thomas Mang using fine cashmere fabric (Loro Piana Interiors) in vermilion red.
Idea over a glass of wine
‘Thomas and I know each other through the art world,’ says Ruben Benjamin. ‘He himself is a passionate collector. We always had intense discussions about materiality, light and surfaces. At some point, over a glass of wine, we said: Let’s do something together…’
Friction with cashmere
Benjamin was initially ‘surprised’ by the proposal to design a frame made of cashmere, as he ‘would not have associated the soft, almost poetic material with a frame.’
But it was precisely ‘this friction’ between the hard surface and the soft cashmere, according to artist Benjamin Ruben, working with architect Thomas Mang, that ‘ultimately made the result so exciting.’
