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Elmgreen & Dragset, Bent Pool, 2019, steel, stainless steel, aluminum, concrete, lacquer, lights, 600 x 392 x 344 cm, courtesy the artists, City of Miami Beach, photography by Andrea Rosetti, on permanent display, Pride Park, Miami Beach, USA © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Elmgreen & Dragset

Portrait of Elmgreen & Dragset

Details:

Michael Elmgreen
b. 1961, Copenhagen, Denmark

Ingar Dragset
b. 1969, Trondheim, Norway

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Elmgreen & Dragset pursue questions of identity and belonging and investigate social, cultural, and political structures in their artistic practice. They are interested in the discourse that can arise if objects are radically re-contextualized and if normal modes for the representation of art are altered.

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset are based in Berlin and have worked together as an artist duo since 1995. They have presented numerous solo exhibitions at prominent institutions worldwide, including Kunsthalle Zürich (2001); Tate Modern, London (2004); Serpentine Gallery, London (2006); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Spain (2009); ZKM Museum of Modern Art, Karlsruhe (2010); ZKM Museum of Modern Art, Karlsruhe (2010); Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2013–14); PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul (2015); UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2016); Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv (2016); The Whitechapel Gallery, London (2018–19); The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas (2019–20); Fondazione Prada, Milan (2022); Centre Pompidou-Metz, France (2023–24); Amorepacific Museum of Art, Seoul (2024–25); and Musée d’Orsay, Paris (2024–25). Their exhibition, Stillleben mit Gemüse, is on view at the Städel Museum, Frankfurt, until January 17, 2027.

Their work has been included in the Berlin biennial (1998); São Paulo biennial (2002); Gwangju biennial (2002 and 2006); Venice biennial (2003 and 2009); Moscow biennial (2007 and 2011); Singapore biennial (2011); Liverpool biennial (2012); Istanbul biennial (2001 and 2013); Bangkok biennial (2018 and 2024); and the NGV Triennial, Melbourne, Australia (2023). In 2009, they received a special mention for their exhibition The Collectors, representing both the Nordic and Danish Pavilions at the 53rd Venice Biennale. Elmgreen & Dragset curated the 15th Istanbul Biennial in 2017.

They are renowned for large-scale public installations including Short Cut (2003), an installation comprising a Fiat Uno and a camper trailer, which appear to emerge from the ground; Prada Marfa (2005), a full-scale replica of a Prada boutique installed along U.S. Route 90 in Valentine, Texas; and Van Gogh’s Ear (2016), a gigantic vertical swimming pool placed in front of Rockefeller Center in New York City. In December 2020, the The Hive (2020) was permanently installed at Moynihan Train Hall, where it now welcomes visitors entering this renovated extension to Penn Station in New York. 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, Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Berlin.

The artists were shortlisted for the Hugo Boss Prize, Guggenheim Museum, New York (2000) and won the Preis der Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2002). In 2012, Elmgreen & Dragset were selected for London’s Fourth Plinth Commission in Trafalgar Square. 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. Their work is held in numerous public collections worldwide, including Amorepacific Museum of Art, Seoul; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris; and Städel Museum, Frankfurt, among many others.

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Elmgreen & Dragset, Dilemma, 2017, patinated bronze, stainless steel, 520 x 300 x 47 cm, courtesy the artists, Ekebergparken, photography by Florian Holzerr, on permanent display, Ekebergparken, Oslo, Norway © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Elmgreen & Dragset, Watching, 2016, Polished stainless steel, 320 x 100.2 x 84.9 cm, courtesy Furhmann Family Collection, photography by Steven Probert © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Elmgreen & Dragset, Han, 2012, polished stainless steel with mechanical eye, movements, 190 x 140 x 90 cm, courtesy the artists, photography by Anders Sune Berg © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Elmgreen & Dragset, Prada Marfa, 2005, adobe bricks, plaster, aluminium frames, glass, panes, MDF, paint, carpet, canvas, Prada shoes and bags, 480 x 760 x 470 cm, courtesy Art Production Fund, New York; Ballroom Marfa, Marfa; the artists, photography by James Evans & Lizette Kabré, on permanent display, Marfa, Texas, USA © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Tailbone (Stainless Steel) by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, Tailbone (Stainless Steel), 2021, stainless steel, steel, lacquer, 51-3/16" × 26-3/8" × 25-9/16" (130 cm × 67 cm × 64.9 cm) © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Elmgreen & Dragset, Gay Marriage, 2010, porcelain urinals, taps, stainless steel tubing, 110 x 43 x 123 cm, courtesy Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo, Norway, photoraphy by Elmar Vestner © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

The Hive by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, The Hive, 2020, stainless steel, aluminum, polycarbonate, LED lights, and lacquer, commissioned by Empire State Development in partnership with Public Art Fund for Moynihan Train Hall, Photo: Nicholas Knight, courtesy Empire State Development and Public Art Fund, NY © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Maybe (Not) by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, Maybe (Not), 2024, bronze, stainless steel, lacquer, 548.6 cm × 320 cm × 61 cm, courtesy New Orleans Museum of Art © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Life Rings by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, Life Rings, 2021, stainless steel, lacquer, concrete, 755 x 325 x 300 cm, courtesy Princess Estelle Cultural Foundation, photography by Ruth Anna Eriksson © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Close by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, Close, 2025, marble, 71-1/8" × 26" × 20-1/4" (180.7 cm × 66 cm × 51.4 cm) © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Did I Grow? by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, Did I Grow?, 2024, marble, brushed steel, numbers and height engraved in black, Overall: 81-7/8" × 21-5/8" × 27-9/16" (208 cm × 54.9 cm × 70 cm) Figure: 56-1/8" × 21-5/8" × 11-1/4" (142.6 cm × 54.9 cm × 28.6 cm) © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

He (Black Marble) by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, He (Black Marble), 2024, black marble, 72-13/16" × 59-1/16" × 47-1/4" (184.9 cm × 150 cm × 120 cm) © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Short Story by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, Short Story, 2020, installation comprised of two human figures, one racquet, and a tennis ball, figures casted in bronze and lacquered, ball in marble, overall installation dimensions variable, 64-15/16" × 27' × 78' (164.9 cm × 823 cm × 2,377.4 cm), as installed in Sagaponack, New York © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Camouflaged, Fig. 7 by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, Camouflaged, Fig. 7, 2024, mirror-polished stainless steel, lacquer, 7' 10-1/2" × 17-5/16" × 17-11/16" (240 cm × 44 cm × 44.9 cm) © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Berlin - New York by Elmgreen & Dragset

Elmgreen & Dragset, Berlin - New York, 2025, stainless steel and oil paint, 70-7/8" × 70-7/8" × 1" (180 cm × 180 cm × 2.5 cm) © Elmgreen & Dragset / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York