An exhibition of furniture by fashion designer Rick Owens, including a set of chairs with antlers, will open at Sebastian+Barquet gallery in London in September.
The collection includes sofas, chairs and lighting made of resin, bones, concrete, plywood, cashmere and fibreglass.
Above: Stag Bench in stained black plywood with antlers
Photographs are by Marc Domage.
Here’s some more information from Sebastian+Barquet:
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Rick Owens: Evolution
A Selling Exhibition of Furniture
London
Oscar Humphries and Rudy Weissenberg present a collection of furniture by Rick Owens. Several entirely new pieces will be presented, representing developing themes in a powerful and genuine design expression. The pieces are produced in small limited editions and prices are kept deliberately modest.
The Californian-born fashion designer has been based in Paris since 2003 and was first inspired to design furniture in 2005 for his new home there. The Parisian dealer Philippe Jousse invited Owens to show his furniture soon after, and it immediately gained a strong reputation.
Now for the first time in London the independent show by Oscar and Rudy will take place at Sebastian + Barquet in Bruton Place. “This is a new partnership for Oscar and I” says Rudy Weissenberg. “We are truly thrilled to be working with Rick Owens. I’ve seen his work evolving since the early days in California and it’s extremely exciting.”
Above: Cement Lamp
Made from unusual materials—resin, bones, concrete, plywood, cashmere and fibreglass—the collection includes sofas, chairs, lighting and other pieces sculpted in austere architectural shapes, sometimes on a very large scale.
Above: The Curial Chair
Above: Galic Chair
Owens describes his inspirations as “Biblical, Brutalist, Bauhaus and Bakersfield.” The deeply luxurious is effortlessly blended with the minimalist, and the romantic married to the avant-garde. Antlers and bones are sometimes included, flying from the corner of a chair as if hinting at archaic, subconscious narratives and dreams. He takes his lead from much-admired masters: Le Corbusier, Jean Prouve, Jo Colombo and Jacques-Emile Rhullman.
A fashion designer of enormous talent, Owens launched his label in 1994 and his first catwalk collection in 2002 with the patronage of American Vogue. Hugging the body like a second skin, his exquisitely constructed clothes usually sell out as soon as they hit the stores.
“We’re proud to show Rick Owens furniture in London for the first time, and especially to show several entirely new pieces” says Oscar Humphries, a figure fast becoming seminal in London’s design/art scene. “ It’s something entirely new and deeply creative. Like a true prophet Rick Owens lives what he preaches.”
August 6th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I love the contrast of shapes & materials. Sometimes it gives me the impression of a pleasant aggressiveness which is necessary to break monotony… BRAVO!
Francois Beydoun
August 6th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
this is the first time i’ve seen dark black forms used in a way i find beautiful, what is normally a cold and dull design has become stunning. love it.
August 6th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Rick Owens is the shit.
August 6th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
What’s the point of a chair that isn’t comfortable? These are nice, but just call them sculptures, please.
August 6th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
very interesting use of fiber glass creating a negative space under the seating and the contast between the thick and heavy pieces and the thin materials used is only meliorated by the various surface treatment
the antlers are kinda gimmicky but i still like the shiny one
“The pieces are produced in small limited editions and prices are kept deliberately modest”
hmmmm, then maybe i’ll get two
August 6th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
i luv his clothes more. think i am bias to say i like the furniture simply it has rick’s stamp on it! where is this museum anyway?
August 6th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
the design is very good but im to ecologist to agree with this concept.
August 6th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
typically designed by someone who doesn’t know anything about the history of chairs. The fourth chair is a sort of Gerrit Rietvelt Steltman chair with a antlers glued on. Is this art? Don’t think so. Does it have meaning in the realm of design? Definitely not
August 6th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Um. conceptually interesting. but… don’t quit your day job… to put it nicely.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I try not to put negative comments on Dezeen as so many people do that for me but this really deserves a good ridicule. What a load of bull shit.
Humm….. art or furniture… let me think… non it’s just a pile of POO!
August 7th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I agree with some of the more negative comments already made, however my biggest complaint is the fact that most of these pieces look like prototypes or something someone in 8th grade shop class would do. It doesn’t look raw, edgy or cool but just plain sloppy.
I will not go to the extent of saying that it is neither art or furniture, skipping the long debate about “what is art” and so forth, but I will say that it is crap, or a Dev said, “a pile of POO”.
August 7th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
It’s certainly not furniture you would sit in. As far as art, it reminds me of the gallery in the living room of the movie “BeetleJuice”. Though I suppose that’s not fair.
August 9th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
I think they’re fun
August 9th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
In response to Salvadore’s comment. Antlers are shed naturally by deer, moose and elk. Regardless, as a conscientious consumer myself, I say that using as much of the physical remains of any animal taken for food, instead of disregarding and wasting it, is not only ecologically sound, but commendable. That said, I doubt these are real antlers, most probably cast resin.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
the antlers don’t look well integrated into the furniture in the first few photos — looks disjointed. However I like the how the antlers morphs into the chair and looks purposeful in the silver chair.
I think antlers and animal trophies have become cliches in the design world now.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I agree with many of the comments on this page. If you’re comparing his pieces to other furniture lines it makes little sense, but in viewing them through the RO lens they fit perfectly. You need to understand his worldview in order to appreciate the furniture. I love what he has done but personally I wouldn’t buy one, rather i’d do what he did to Le Corbusier and make my own. Something that in a way, is more powerful than handing over my checkbook.