Top image: Rick Owens, Prong, 2016, foam, courtesy of Owenscorp

Rick Owens has unveiled his first US museum exhibit, showcasing his furniture designs at The Museum of Contemporary Art in LA.

Since 2007 the subversive and enigmatic designer has lent the world of interiors his minimalistic expertise, creating pieces inspired by ‘the primitive, brutalism, Marcel Breuer architecture and German bunkers’.

His latest exhibit, installed at MOCA by Owens’ partner, Michelle Lamy, consists of 22 of his geometric- inspired pieces, with a prominent theme being 60s minimalism. The pieces are more comparable to geometric sculptures than functional pieces of furniture and similarly to Owens’ fashion, the furniture remains largely ambiguous and open to interpretation; is that a bed or a chair? Is that a chair or a table? 

Like his fashion design ethos, Owens opts for a range of unusual natural materials; alabaster, ebony, leather, ox bone, marble and, in the latest exhibition, foam and rock crystal. With an emphasis on sculpture over comfort and a focus on artistry as opposed to lifestyle, the pieces emulate the look of structured, angry rocks, rather than conventional furniture.

Chosen to be paired with Owens’ furniture are six paintings by the late artist, Steven Parrino, who Owens shares many aesthetic similarities with; their work is both monochromatic, twisted, torn.

Rick Owens: Furniture runs at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 250 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, USA until 2nd April 2017.