Elmgreen & Dragset (Michael Elmgreen, born 1961 in Copenhagen, Denmark and Ingar Dragset, born 1969 in Trondheim, Norway, live and work in Berlin) pursue questions of identity and belonging from a socio-cultural perspective in their artistic practice. Since 1995, they have been working together at the interface of art, design, and architecture with a focus on sculpture and installation. They are interested in the discourse that can arise when objects are re-contextualized and when the normal modes for presenting the art are altered. Their works often challenge the institutional context in which they are exhibited – both in a spatial manner and in relation to the politics surrounding these institutions.

They have held numerous solo exhibitions at art institutions worldwide, including Museum for Moderne Kunst, Ishøj, Denmark (2023); Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz, France (2023); Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (2022); EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland (2020); The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX, USA (2019-20); The Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2018–19); Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel (2016); UCCA, Beijing, China (2016); PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2015); Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway (2014); Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (2013–14); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands (2011); ZKM Museum of Modern Art, Karlsruhe, Germany (2010); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León, Spain (2009); Serpentine Gallery, London, UK (2006); Tate Modern, London, UK (2004); and Kunsthalle Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland (2001). Their work has been included in the Bangkok Biennial (2018), Istanbul Biennial (2013, 2011, 2001), Liverpool Biennial (2012), Singapore Biennial (2011), Moscow Biennial (2011, 2007), Venice Biennial (2009, 2003), Gwangju Biennial (2006, 2002), São Paulo Biennial (2002), and Berlin Biennial (1998). In 2009 they received a special mention for their exhibition “The Collectors” in the Nordic and Danish Pavilions at the 53rd Venice Biennale. Elmgreen & Dragset curated the 15th Istanbul Biennial in 2017.

Amongst their most well-known works are “Prada Marfa” (2005) – a full-scale replica of a Prada boutique in the middle of the Texan desert and “Short Cut” (2003) – a car and a caravan breaking through the ground, first exhibited in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan, and now in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. In 2012 Elmgreen & Dragset were selected for London’s Fourth Plinth Commission in Trafalgar Square and the duo have since realized numerous celebrated public sculptures. “Van Gogh’s Ear” was presented first by Public Art Fund at the Rockefeller Center in 2016 and has since exhibited with K11 Musea in Hong Kong and Wuhan. Their permanent public sculptures include: “Bent Pool”, Pride Park, Miami Beach (2019); “The Hive”, New York (2020); and “Life Rings” at Royal Djurgården, Stockholm (2021). In Berlin, the artists won the German Government's competition for a “Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime”, which has been permanently installed in Tiergarten Park since 2008, and their outdoor sculpture “Statue of Liberty” (2018) is permanently installed at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart.

The artists were shortlisted for the Hugo Boss Prize, Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA (2000), and won the Preis der Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany (2002). In 2015 the artists received honorary doctorates at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and in 2020 they were awarded the B.Z.-Kulturpreis in Berlin. This year, 2021, Elmgreen & Dragset were awarded the 14th Robert Jacobsen Prize of the Würth Foundation, Künzelsau, Germany.

Elmgreen & Dragset were represented by KÖNIG GALERIE from 2016 to 2022.

ELMGREEN & DRAGSET

SELECTED WORKS

Untitled