“Meanwhile, Norman Kelley’s “Young Americans” series—two pieces evocative of historical styles, Federal and Chippendale—recalls a time when furniture was made to be pushed up against the wall. The anachronism of these styles forms a smokescreen of respectability that nearly conceals each object’s sly subversion. The first appears to be a roll-top desk that, when opened, outs itself as an armchair. The second is an abnormally tall mahogany table whose high-gloss top tilts to become vertical, refashioning the piece as a standing mirror. Surprise is the reward of these strange and wonderful things, and it proves time and again that the effort of design is not for nothing.”