Rick Owens: Subhuman Inhuman Superhuman

From December 15, 2017 to March 25, 2018, the Triennale di Milano presents Rick Owens. Subhuman Inhuman Superhuman, the first retrospective entirely dedicated to the visionary fashion and furniture designer Rick Owens, as suggested and presented by the Curator of the Fashion Department at Triennale di Milano, Eleonora Fiorani.  

For this exhibition Owens is the author of his own narrative, curating garments, accessories, furniture, graphics and publications that he has selected from over 20 years of his career.

Inspired by the example of artists and literature, Owens has always worked to promote and highlight moments of beauty that might otherwise be overlooked. Key to this retrospective is a sculptural installation, a piece which runs throughout the show. Taking the form of a giant earthwork composed of concrete, lilies, Adriatic sand and his own hair, the sculpture serves as a metaphor of the eternal, primal creative drive that pushes humanity forward for better or worse.

“I wanted to take what a dismissive world might mock and create something fine, empathetic, kind and inclusive.”

“If I could ever so slightly blur the rigid paramaters of what is considered beautiful or acceptable in our generation, I will have fulfilled any potential I had to make any positive contribution to this world.” 

Rick Owens. Subhuman Inhuman Superhuman also presents a limited-edition box, composed of separate books of text, collaborations with photographers, objects and his own unreleased perfume containing civet and ambergris. 

Born in Porterville in Southern California, Rick Owens launched his eponymous line in 1994. His first runway show in New York was underwritten by Anna Wintour and Vogue USA. In 2003, Owens moved to Paris, which has since been the centre of his operations. In July 2005, Owens introduced a furniture collection featuring raw plywood, marble and moose antlers, which has been exhibited at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

A recipient of the 2002 Perry Ellis Award for Emerging Talent and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2017, Rick Owens was also awarded the Cooper-Hewitt Design Award for Fashion Design, as well as the Fashion Group International Rule Breaker Award in 2007.