Though the Whitney Museum of American Art recently reopened in September following six months of pandemic-induced closure, they also announced that the 2021 edition of the hotly anticipated Whitney Biennial would be delayed until April 2022. In the meantime, the museum will prioritize programming that was disrupted due to the closures, including a solo exhibition of figurative, queer-tinged paintings by the South Asian artist Salman Toor, and a show that chronicles the formative years of the Kamoinge Workshop, a collective of 1960s Black photographers who reclaimed how their communities were portrayed.

Postponing the show seems like a strategic move for the Whitney, which has recently become a lightning rod for controversy. The 2019 Biennial faced disruption after eight artists requested that their work be removed due to the notorious tear gas affiliations of former board member Warren B. Kanders, who has since divested. And earlier this summer, the museum cancelled an exhibition called “Collective Actions: Artist Interventions in a Time of Change” after the featured artists spoke out about questionable acquisition practices. None of the artists were told in advance that their work—purchased from the artist collective See in Black at discounted prices—would be included in the show, causing a social media outcry and a letter urging the museum to reform its ethical guidelines.

Aside from giving artists extra time to complete their work after the pandemic disrupted access to studio spaces and supplies, perhaps postponing the biennial will afford the museum valuable space to reorient itself after a tumultuous year. The exhibition often serves as a critical survey that reflects the social, political, and cultural moment—given the current national mood of upheaval, the Whitney would be smart to buy extra time to ensure the upcoming edition goes off without a hitch. History, however, tends to repeat itself.

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Anna Rabinowicz wears many hats. Count design professor, trained product designer, and Stanford-educated engineer among them. Perhaps her most notable is running ANNA New York, a home accessories brand she founded nearly two decades ago. Fusing her passions for biomorphic design and enduring, natural materials, the brand has made an indelible stamp on the design sphere—and you may have spotted knock-offs of her beloved Agate coasters. With her rigorous training, every piece is obsessed over. “Design is powerful,” she says. “It can cause people to look at an object and say, ‘this is so right, I must incorporate this into my life.’ Five millimeters off, they look at it and say, ‘I’m not interested.’”

Surface caught up with Rabinowicz to discuss her obsession with nature, object permanence in a world of ephemera, and what exciting products are on the horizon.

By deconstructing traditional themes of color and light refraction without using stones or precious metals, Cat Merrick’s jewelry offers a refreshing take on what constitutes wearable sculpture. Her latest collection, Strange Days, pulls optical lenses from science suppliers, fine art pigments from painting, glass from neon signage, and dark humor from theater into a mind-bending series that looks far beyond itself to unravel today’s fraught conditions.

When: Oct. 1–Nov. 21

Where: Gagosian, London

What: Acting as a makeshift solo booth for the canceled Frieze London, this storefront show puts the Chicago-born painter’s larger-than-life ruminations on identity and self-perception on full display. Each portrait references a specific memory or encounter, illustrating the subtle social shifts that accompany life during times of upheaval while offering both introspection and harrowing social critique in equal measure. Portraits such as Lunch (2020), evoke childhood nostalgia through soft, inviting facial features; others confront bias by portraying distorted subjects through the eyes of racist aggressors.

Like three bodies locked rhythmically in a graceful waltz, an expressive sexuality defines Vincent Pocsik’s evocative Dancers. Blurring the line between objet d’art and furniture, the meticulously sculpted black walnut piece is part of a family of lifelike formations that belong to the L.A.-based sculptor and trained architect’s On The Meridian series. Pocsik drew inspiration from the negative space generated when people dance: “I wanted to create a static piece that expresses movement,” he says of the three-pronged table.

Montalba Architects is an award-winning architecture and urban design practice. By embracing a humanistic approach that considers not only a client’s needs, but also the cultural and economic environment, its projects feel contextual and visionary.

Surface Says: What’s impressive about Montalba’s wide-ranging body of work, which spans residential and commercial, is that no two projects feel the same. Each is a unique collaboration between client, architect, and environment.

Thom Browne’s latest runway show also stages a stylish 2131 Olympics.

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Niko Koronis’s geometric resin furniture resembles carved soap blocks.