“THE CLOTHES I MAKE ARE MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY. THEY ARE THE CALM ELEGANCE I WANT TO GET TO AND THE DAMAGE I’VE DONE ON THE WAY. THEY ARE AN EXPRESSION OF TENDERNESS AND RAGING EGO. THEY ARE AN ADOLESCENT IDEALIZATION AND ITS INEVITABLE DEFEAT.

I WROTE THESE WORDS WHEN I FIRST STARTED OUT IN LOS ANGELES AND THEY STILL HOLD TRUE TODAY, HERE IN PARIS MORE THAN 30 YEARS LATER, IN THIS BOOKLET FOR THE PUBLIC ATTENDING THIS EXHIBITION SO KINDLY HOSTED BY THE PALAIS GALLIERA.

THE STORY I’VE BEEN TELLING ALL ALONG IS ABOUT THE CONCERNS WE ARE ALL PROCESSING EVERY DAY... TOGETHER AND ALONE... FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN CONTROL AND COLLAPSE, ACTION AND ACCEPTANCE, DEFENSE AND LOVE...

AND I HAVE DONE MY BEST TO OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE STANDARD CULTURAL AESTHETICS WITHIN WHICH NOT ALL OF US FEEL REFLECTED... I DON’T REJECT OR CONDEMN ANYTHING, I JUST PROPOSE ANOTHER OPTION.

I HOPE YOU CAN ALL FIND YOUR OWN REFLECTIONS SOMEWHERE IN HERE.

”THE PALAIS GALLIERA IS HOLDING THE FIRST EXHIBITION IN PARIS DEDICATED TO THE WORK OF AVANT-GARDE FASHION DESIGNER RICK OWENS. IT FEATURES COLLECTIONS FROM HIS EARLY BEGINNINGS IN LOS ANGELES THROUGH TO HIS MOST RECENT. WITH A FASCINATION FOR SPIRITUAL RITUAL, HIS CREATIONS DRAW ON A WIDE RANGE OF REFERENCES, FROM JORIS-KARL HUYSMANS TO MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART, AS WELL AS THE GREAT HOLLYWOOD FILMS OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY. RICK OWENS HIMSELF IS THE EXHIBITION’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND HE HAS WORKED WITH THE CURATION OF THE PALAIS GALLIERA TO CREATE AN EXHIBITION TRAIL THAT EXTENDS TO THE FAÇADE OF THE MUSEUM AS WELL AS ITS GARDEN.

FEATURING OVER 100 SILHOUETTES, THE RETROSPECTIVE IS AUGMENTED BY OWENS’S PERSONAL DOCUMENTS, AS WELL AS VIDEOS AND SOME NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN INSTALLATIONS. WORKS BY GUSTAVE MOREAU, JOSEPH BEUYS AND STEVEN PARRINO PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO THE DESIGNER’S SOURCES OF INSPIRATION AND SHOW HIS WORK IN A NEW LIGHT. THE EXHIBITION ALSO FOCUSES ON THE CENTRAL ROLE PLAYED BY HIS WIFE MICHÈLE LAMY, WHOSE PRESENCE IS FELT THROUGHOUT THE EXHIBITION, EVEN IN A RECREATION OF THEIR CALIFORNIAN BEDROOM.

RICK OWENS’S WORK ALSO EXTENDS OUTSIDE OF THE MUSEUM. HE HAS WRAPPED THE STATUES ON THE FAÇADE IN A FABRIC EMBROIDERED WITH SEQUINS. IN THE GARDEN OF THE PALAIS GALLIERA, THIRTY BRUTALIST-STYLE CEMENT SCULPTURES, SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR THE OCCASION, RECALL PIECES FROM HIS FURNITURE LINE. THE GARDEN HAS BEEN DESIGNED WITH HIS BELOVED CALIFORNIAN VINES AND PLANTS.

THE SCALE AND SCOPE OF THE EXHIBITION, RICK OWENS, TEMPLE OF LOVE, IS UNPRECEDENTED. IT IS A MEDITATION ON LOVE, BEAUTY AND DIVERSITY, PRESENTED IN A MONUMENTAL SETTING. THE SILHOUETTES, MOST OF WHICH COME FROM THE ARCHIVES OF ONE OF TODAY’S LEADING DESIGNERS, TRANSFORM THE MUSEUM INTO A TEMPLE DEDICATED TO CREATION.

GENERAL CURATOR

MIREN ARZALLUZ, HONORARY DIRECTOR OF THE PALAIS GALLIERA

SCIENTIFIC CURATOR

ALEXANDRE SAMSON, HEAD OF COLLECTIONS, CLOTHES FROM 1947 TO CONTEMPORARY DESIGN

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

RICK OWENS