elmgreen & dragset turn galerie perrotin into a furnished bedroom

elmgreen & dragset turn galerie perrotin into a furnished bedroom
all photos by guillaume ziccarelli / courtesy of the artists and galerie perrotin

elmgreen & dragset: past tomorrow
galerie perrotin, new york
now through may 23, 2015

norman swann, an elderly, disillusioned and failed architect, is the fictional subject of elmgreen & dragset’s solo exhibition at galerie perrotin, new york. in continuation of the artist duo’s interest in the construction of narratives through domestic interiors, ‘past tomorrow’ — a follow up to their 2013 exhibition ‘tomorrow’ at london’s victoria and albert museum — transforms the gallery space into a densely furnished bedroom. the setup in new york follows the life of mr. swann after his inheritance runs out and is forced to leave his lavish home in london’s south kensington neighborhood to a smaller apartment in new york’s upper east side.

the gallery space is transformed into a densely furnished bedroom

the exhibition now focuses solely on his bedroom, infilled with domestic elements — artifacts, books, classic european-style furniture, photographs, sketches and everyday props — that make up his personal life. the detailed environment draws reference from late 19th-century interior paintings: dark, red walls surround an imposing, black bed in the center of the room entitled ‘omnes una manet nox’ (one night awaits us all), which features ‘the critic’, a gold-plated vulture perched onto one of its pedestal.

the room comprises artifacts, books and classic european-style furniture

beside the bed, a half-open nightstand drawer reveals small bottles of prescription medications used to treat HIV, an eerie glimpse into the deeply personal existence of elmgreen & dragset’s character mr. swann. as a symbol of a generation for whom the AIDS crisis came as a life-altering shock in the early 1980s, mr.swann’s apparent survival of the epidemic means he now faces a unexpected retirement age. ‘past tomorrow’ addresses the issue of aging: what place does the complexity of a mature individual’s winding past hold in a society obsessed with youth?

installation view at galerie perrotin