Elmgreen & Dragset document a life in progress at Galerie Perrotin
When last we encountered architect Norman Swann he was between bankruptcy and his 75th birthday, still stubbornly ensconced in his family home - a grand residence that shared an address with the Victoria & Albert Museum. The ornery bachelor, now 76, has recently traded South Kensington for New York's Upper East Side, where he has downsized to a single splendid room - double-height, dentil moldings, crimson walls - in a landmark 1930s building on Madison Avenue. Until 23 May, visitors are welcome to barge in and snoop around.
'Be a not-so-polite guest - sneak into his private stuff!' encourages Michael Elmgreen, one half of the Danish-Norwegian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, as he reaches for a leather-bound photo album resting not far from a half-drunk cup of tea. 'The more you look at things, the more curious you will get.'
Despite the ephemera of a life in progress - personal photos (handsome young men, gorgeous buildings) and correspondence, shelves of well-thumbed books (Foucault, Proust, a 39-volume set of Shakespeare's complete works in miniature) and stacks of yellowing magazines - Swann is not a real person. He is the creation of Elmgreen & Dragset and his bedroom is their latest solo exhibition, on show at Galerie Perrotin.
Entitled 'Past Tomorrow' and accompanied by a short book written in the style of a screenplay, it picks up where the artists' 2013 V&A installation left off, with Swann realising he has little more than maquettes to show for a life that prized utopia over reality, theory over practice, dogmatism over compromise.
'We were jealous that filmmakers could focus on a few characters and comment on society through those fictional characters, so that's what we've done over the last few years - look at different characters and try to tell their stories and also our stories through their objects, their collections, all of the traces they leave in a domestic setting,' says Ingar Dragset. 'It's quite rare to make a sequel in an art context, but we're always up for a new challenge.'
ADDRESS
909 Madison Avenue & 73rd Street
Upper East Side
New York
NY 10021
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Stephanie Murg is a writer and editor based in New York who has contributed to Wallpaper* since 2011. She is the co-author of Pradasphere (Abrams Books), and her writing about art, architecture, and other forms of material culture has also appeared in publications such as Flash Art, ARTnews, Vogue Italia, Smithsonian, Metropolis, and The Architect’s Newspaper. A graduate of Harvard, Stephanie has lectured on the history of art and design at institutions including New York’s School of Visual Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.
-
Looking for a long-range luxury EV that’s a true Tesla alternative? Welcome to the Lucid Air
We drive the Lucid Air, the high-performance Californian EV that’s a welcome leftfield choice in a sea of Musk-mobiles. Vote Lucid!
By Guy Bird Published
-
Umbrian castle hotel Reschio seduces with 1,000 years of history, now explored in a new book
The estate, home to a boutique hotel and rentable houses, is documented in Rizzoli's ‘Reschio: the First Thousand Years’ – and is open for stays
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Light, nature and modernist architecture: welcome to the reimagined Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens and its modernist Roberto Burle Marx-designed greenhouse get a makeover by Weiss/Manfredi and Reed Hildebrand in the US
By Ian Volner Published
-
Discover Wallpaper* November 2024: The Art Issue
The art special is on sale now. Confront the classical canon with Elmgreen & Dragset, get down with LoveFrom x Moncler, and wear art on your sleeve with Christiane Kubrick x JW Anderson
By Bill Prince Published
-
Elmgreen & Dragset explore contemporary masculinity in Paris
We visit Elmgreen & Dragset at their Berlin studio ahead of new exhibition ‘L’Addition’ at Paris’ Musée d’Orsay, a subversive take on the classical form
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Elmgreen & Dragset in Milan: bodies, minimalism and home discomforts
Elmgreen & Dragset’s new show at Milan’s Fondazione Prada is an uncanny exploration of our dematerialising bodies and increasingly discomforting homes
By TF Chan Last updated
-
Last chance to see: ‘Elmgreen & Dragset: The Nervous System’ at Pace New York
Scandinavian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset caution against short-term memory in their first major show with Pace Gallery, calling our attention to crises beyond the pandemic
By TF Chan Last updated
-
Laid bare: Elmgreen & Dragset create subversive massage parlour in Paris
In Paris, Perrotin’s Matignon gallery is transformed into an uncanny massage parlour in the hands of artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset
By TF Chan Last updated
-
As Paris begins to reopen, Perrotin introduces a series of spirited cooperative exhibitions
In the name of solidarity, Perrotin has invited 26 Parisian galleries to take part in four consecutive presentations in its Saint-Claude space
By Diane Theunissen Last updated
-
Life lessons from Elmgreen & Dragset’s tennis court
A new exhibition at Berlin’s König Galerie has the artist duo meditating on empty triumphs, power mechanisms and social divisions
By TF Chan Last updated
-
Perrotin releases Maurizio Cattelan banana t-shirts to benefit hunger-relief charity
Profits from each sale will go towards Feeding South Florida, a food bank serving Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties
By Jessica Klingelfuss Last updated