The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureArt

Elmgreen & Dragset at Victoria Miro

Elmgreen & Dragset at Victoria Miro | Exhibition review
24 October 2015
Mersa Auda
Avatar
Mersa Auda
24 October 2015

Exhibition and art

Mersa Auda

Elmgreen & Dragset at Victoria Miro

★★★★★

Dates

13th October 2015 - 7th November 2015

Entry

Free

Links & directions

WebsiteMap

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset have been working together as an artistic duo for around 20 years. During this time, they have been mainly concerned with challenging the methods of presenting and viewing art. Through installations, sculptures and various architectural feats, they have played with the idea of displacing the familiar, most notably by placing a Prada boutique in a Texan desert. Another recurring theme in their work is the exploration of what lies behind the scenes, particularly in the context of exhibiting art.

Their latest collection, Self-Portraits, shines the spotlight on an unexpected object in the art gallery: namely, the wall label used to inform viewers of the details pertaining to a work of art. Elmgreen and Dragset have selected a number of labels from various exhibitions describing works whose titles resonated with the duo’s personal experience. The labels were re-created using different materials, and while some are presented in their original size, others were enlarged, making it clear that they are indeed the main feature of the exhibition.

The concept of Self-Portraits is intriguing in that it can trigger a variety of thoughts and considerations regarding the insignificant in relation to the valuable. While the idea is undoubtedly original, however, there is not something in it, aesthetically speaking, that is appealing enough to induce viewers to linger, or to make the trip to see the works in person in the first place.

Naturally, conceptual art relies largely on the viewer’s perception, but there needs to be a visual element that catches one’s interest and that makes the viewer’s presence in front of the work necessary. In the case of Self-Portraits, the viewer can form opinions and nurture personal theories before even seeing the displayed labels. There is nothing that a closer look will reveal, and no deeper layers to uncover through sight. If wall labels had the power to move, please or shock a viewer, they would not be placed alongside paintings in museums. The very nature of gallery labels is to be unobtrusive, to be noticed only if sought out.

The strength of Self-Portraits is that it does make one think hard about where art ends and the ordinary begins. There is an eerie feeling to seeing the labels, particularly the smaller ones, describing a painting that is not there. Aside from that, this is an exhibition that relies solely on the visitor’s imagination and interpretative skills.

★★★★★

Mersa Auda

Elmgreen & Dragset is at Victoria Miro from 13th October until 7th November 2015, for further information visit here.

Related ItemsartElmgreen and Dragsetreview

More in Art

Africa Fashion at the V&A

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Edvard Munch: Masterpieces from Bergen

★★★★★
James White
Read More

Summer Exhibition 2022 at the Royal Academy of Arts

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Penny Goring: Penny World at ICA

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Metamorphosis and flow: Orlanda Broom debuts powerful abstract show Shapeshifters at Grove Square Galleries

The editorial unit
Read More

Feminine Power: The Divine to the Demonic at the British Museum

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Cornelia Parker at Tate Britain

★★★★★
James White
Read More

Our Time on Earth at the Barbican

★★★★★
Jessica Wall
Read More

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms at Tate Modern

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Exhibition and art

Mersa Auda

Elmgreen & Dragset at Victoria Miro

★★★★★

Dates

13th October 2015 - 7th November 2015

Entry

Free

Links & directions

WebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Beauty and the Beast: The Musical at London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Railway Children Return
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Brian and Charles
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Viagra Boys – Cave World
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Black Bird
    ★★★★★
    apple
  • The End of the Night at Original Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Throne at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “We really wanted to create a cabbage gun”: An interview with David Earl and Chris Hayward stars of Brian and Charles
    Cinema & Tv
  • Flamenco Festival 2022 at Sadler’s Wells
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Black Bird
    ★★★★★
    apple
  • Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Viagra Boys – Cave World
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Railway Children Return
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Adele lights up Hyde Park for BST Festival
    ★★★★★
    Live music
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

The World of Charles and Ray Eames at Barbican Centre | Exhibition review
Meat and Shake in Ealing | Restaurant review