Rick Owen's furniture collection - The birth of brutalism

Last updated: January 22, 2020

Installation view of Rick Owens: Furniture at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2016-2017
Photo: Brian Forrest/moca.org

Published: April 5, 2017

Last updated: January 22, 2020

Introduction

When asked to speak about his art, Rick Owens appreciates designers who make hand beads or ball gowns but he loves his style more. By making use of rare materials and working with highly skilled artisans, he is able to create unique items. With an emphasis on art as opposed to lifestyle, Owens creates massive monuments with little assembly work compared to the carving involved.

Material for furniture by Rick Owens

Rick Owen’s furniture

Owens is fascinated by the contrast created when different materials come together to create expensive-looking furniture pieces. He began this line of his work in 2007 and since then, some pieces have traveled the international art circuit and as new shows come up, more designs are born. Every year there is a bit of a stray from the original artistic vision. In the first year when he began, Owen imagined a rock that was covered in fur and placed next to a fireplace; it is from this vision that the boulder signature was created.

Rick Owens – Onyx toilet bowl, Carrara Tuscany, 2015

‘The birth of brutalism’

To date, this original block has undergone various versions of transformation to create benches, chairs and daybed. The latest version of the block, as can be seen at MOCA, gets its shape from German bankers that were made from concrete and used during the Second World War. In his own words, Owens describes these bankers looking furniture pieces as images of futuristic temples. Since they have no ornamentation and are too square, with rounded corners that look weird, he thinks of them as the birth of brutalism.

Rick Owens in studio producing his furniture

Teamwork with his wife Michèle Lamy

It is obvious that much of what Owen does and his level of recognition in art circles is due to his creativity, but much of what he has achieved would not be possible without his wife Michèle Lamy who is also his creative partner. The teamwork begins at prototyping after Owen had already drawn the designs on paper. At this stage, their main tools are a passion for art, a kitchen knife and two pairs of loving hands. They then use the services of a dealer who travels the world sourcing for elements and unique materials.

Armed with a prototype and unique elements, the team gets into action to supervise the production team. Did you know that colossal slabs made out of stone weigh up to 2 tons? These are the bases on which carvings are made by cutting through them using laser before they get to be polished.

Rick Owens portrait
Photo: WSJ Magazine/wsj.com

Ms Michèle Lamy at Ébénisterie Dagorn, Saint-Fargeau-Ponthierry, April 2016

Conclusion

For people who only know Rick Owens as a fashion designer, it comes as a pleasant surprise that he makes furniture with such magnificence.

Exhibition at LA MoCA

Installation view of Rick Owens: Furniture at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2016-2017

Video: Exhibition walkthrough

5min 20sec

Curators Rebecca Matalon and Marcelyn Gow discuss Owens’ architectural and artistic influences in his furniture designs.

Furniture

Benches

Rick Owens – Black Marble 2 Prong Bench, 2012, black marble, Edition of 8, 80×300 or 380x90cm

Rick Owens – Black Plywood 3 Prong Bench, 2013, Black Plywood, Edition of 8, 85.5x670x116cm

Rick Owens – Stag Bench (pair), 2006, Black Plywood, stained wood, fallow deer antlers, Edition of 20, left: 135.9×112.4×72.4cm, right: 126×109.2×71.8 cm