Elmgreen & Dragset discover up to date masculinity in Paris

As Elmgreen & Dragset, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset convey a sensible subversion to their large-scale installations. Over the past three a long time, they’ve taken a sideways take a look at social and political techniques by recontextualising mainstream motifs: works have included a full-scale reproduction of a Prada boutique within the Texan desert and an unlimited, vertical swimming pool, now put in in Hong Kong.

This playful mindset underpins a serious new present at Musée d’Orsay in Paris, which, for the primary time in its 38-year historical past, is staging a up to date exhibition in its central sculpture nave. ‘L’Addition’ (opening 15 October 2024) considers the results of recontextualisation alongside a figurative rethinking of classical motifs, with Elmgreen & Dragset’s works taking their cue from the Nineteenth-century sculptures within the museum’s everlasting assortment. Right here, although, they strike an uncanny tone. Look once more on the apparently historically styled and crafted works and you start to identify subversive particulars: a classical determine seems to be sporting headphones, one other a VR headset, and will that one be taking part in with a drone?

Elmgreen & Dragset on ‘L’Addition’ at Musée d’Orsay

Constructing on 2022’s ‘Ineffective Our bodies’ exhibition at Fondazione Prada (W*277), the place Elmgreen & Dragset’s figures had been paired with figurative sculptures courting from 300BC to the Nineteenth century, right here the duo use the distinction between previous and new because the backdrop for a consideration of masculinity. In juxtaposing the classical and the trendy, they hint its illustration all through the timelines interwoven within the Musée d’Orsay’s historic halls.

‘In ‘L’Addition’, we discover completely different depictions of masculinity, significantly these which were underrepresented or written out of artwork historical past,’ say the artists (who had been interviewed by e mail and communicate as a duo). ‘Our sculptures specific the vulnerability linked to rising up and forming an id. The figures take care of conventional notions of masculinity and the struggles related to making an attempt to suit right into a heteronormative world the place the masculine function has not advanced as a lot as different identities have.’ They level out that lots of the sculptures within the museum’s assortment painting delicate variations of masculinity, making a dialog with the introduction of their very own up to date items, slightly than a conflict.

‘In fact, quite a lot of progress has been made and, luckily, many individuals’s understanding of gender and sexuality is way more fluid and sophisticated in the present day. The acceptance of non-binary identities represents actual progress. However, on the similar time, we’re experiencing a regarding regression amongst some conservative-minded males who really feel misplaced amid the shifts in society. They merely don’t know what their function is in the present day, so they have a tendency to cling on to outdated, repressive concepts of energy. It typically nonetheless looks as if there’s a lengthy approach to go in redefining masculine roles, so it’s pressing to maintain on pushing.’ Fittingly, the exhibition runs concurrently to ‘Caillebotte. Portray Males’, which focuses on Nineteenth-century artist Gustave Caillebotte, his predilection for masculine kinds, and the arresting modernity of his male portraits.

On the Musée d’Orsay, Elmgreen & Dragset’s works play with neoclassical supplies and kinds, however their figures are frozen in leisure – listening to music, launching a drone into the air or engrossed in VR – on the precipice of worlds we are able to’t entry. That is taken actually within the case of a boy who stands on the finish of a diving board, considering the huge corridor of the Musée d’Orsay under, or figuratively within the isolation of these misplaced in a world of music, with the expertise they clutch seemingly an extension of themselves. Reduce off from us, we’re requested to think about their scenario – what are they listening to, watching, feeling? – forcing us to confront our personal assumption of their id and who we contemplate they’re.

‘The assembly between our figures and people from the everlasting assortment feels pure,’ the artists say. ‘Nonetheless, our sculptures have sure up to date signifiers, like avenue garments or headphones, that firmly place them within the current day. Lots of the Nineteenth-century items within the nave are figures interacting with objects akin to books and musical devices. We particularly created some sculptures to reflect these gestures, however with a contemporary twist, incorporating devices like VR goggles or a drone. A few of these figures would possibly seem contemplative, misplaced in thought or maybe in expertise. Because the viewers can’t know what these figures are listening to, or what they’re seeing behind their VR masks, they may venture their very own interpretations on to them.’

Works are nearly indistinguishable from the traditional items. Created from a mixture of supplies, from silicone to bronze, they both embody a hyper-reality or mimic historic kinds. Disconcertingly, you by no means fairly know which one to anticipate. ‘One of many works, a hyper-realistic silicone determine of a boy drawing in entrance of a monumental portray, may simply be mistaken for an actual baby, maybe a pupil left behind by his trainer and classmates,’ clarify the artists. ‘Others, in marble or bronze, would possibly extra noticeably be in dialog with the works round them and play with individuals’s expectations of a figurative sculpture. A practical-looking sculpture manufactured from silicone, actual hair and clothes versus marble evokes distinct associations, and viewers react to them in a different way.’

Lots of the figures are younger, misplaced in play, a nostalgic childhood captured by the shadowy lens of reminiscence. ‘On the whole, we attempt to create artworks that specific sure feelings, conflicts and developments which can be related to our personal lives.

Wanting again on this manner additionally helps us to higher perceive our present and evolving selves,’ they add. ‘Ever since creating our sculpture of a boy on a rocking horse for the Fourth Plinth at Trafalgar Sq. in London in 2012, we have now continued to revisit the theme of upbringing in our follow. Over the past decade, we have now mirrored extra on childhood, a formative and overwhelming time when one encounters so many norms and expectations for the primary time. However with every new era, there may be room for progress and hope.’

The quotidian, and our instinctive dedication to sustaining the order of the on a regular basis, is explored right here, too. ‘Cleansing rituals, and home life on the whole, have been topics for artists for hundreds of years. In a single work, referred to as Laundry, the washer serves as a type of plinth for the seated sculpture. To us, there’s something reassuring and really human about this work. Expertise could have improved our lives, however we’re nonetheless certain to our bodily routines, fundamental wants and, for now, our bodily, ageing selves. Typically probably the most profound ‘fact’ can happen in probably the most banal imagery.’