Unboxed: the topography of Josh Owen
August 28 - September 20, 2026
 

Opening reception:
Friday, September 4
6:00 - 9:00 pm
Free // All Welcome

Unboxed: the topography of Josh Owen is an exhibition of instructional, utilitarian objects that define an evolving and active archive of designer, educator, and author Josh Owen’s work and observations.

Using excavation as its central metaphor, the exhibition unfolds like a topographical landscape. The inaugural edition, JO.55, presents the initial 55 modular plywood boxes arranged on the gallery floor. These boxes function as both display units and transportable crates, allowing the exhibition to adapt to various spaces, emphasizing the dynamic and evolving nature of Josh’s work.

The exhibition is divided into three sections by color-coded trays: Professional (white), Pedagogical (black), and Phenomenological (red). Rather than isolating individual works on the walls, the exhibition presents them together in a cohesive, immersive display, offering viewers a collective experience that integrates Josh’s creative history. The installation celebrates how life and work are inextricably linked and how design can be a lens through which we explore both the material and emotional worlds. _RZLBD

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Josh Owen is the Vignelli Distinguished Professor of Design and the Director of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT. Prior to his current role, Owen was Director of the Industrial Design Department in which he continues to teach his popular course known as the Metaproject. Owen is also the president of his eponymous design studio, Josh Owen LLC (www.joshowen.com). His professional projects are produced by major manufacturers and have won many awards. Owen’s work is included in the permanent design collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou (FR), the Chicago Athenaeum (US), the Corning Museum of Glass (US), the Denver Art Museum (US), the Design Museum Brussels (BE), the Museum of American Jewish History (US), the Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal (CA), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (US) the Red Dot Design Museum (DE), and the Taiwan Design Museum (TP). Owen’s professional work has been featured in major exhibitions, numerous books on design, and is regularly included in critical design discourse. He is the author of the book, Lenses for Design.

Owen was born in the United States in 1970. Owen holds a BFA in Sculpture and a BA in Visual Studies from Cornell University and an MFA in Furniture Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has also studied at Tel Aviv University and Cornell University’s program in Rome. Owen’s studio practice is located where he lives in a small village a few miles down the Erie Canal from RIT.