Louis Vuitton announces an exhibition of new works by the celebrated artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset at the New Bond Street Maison, Comprising a larger than life ornate bed, an adult sized rocking horse, a wall safe and a nest containing a golden egg, the installation extends Louis Vuitton’s collaboration with Elmgreen and Dragset following the successful sponsorship of the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
The artists will also select a number of story books to fill the “Curated Shelf” in the Louis Vuitton Librairie, to run concurrently with this exhibition. Describing the exhibition as going ‘way beyond a normal sponsorship’, Elmgreen & Dragset have produced a humorous, thought provoking installation that dramatically challenges and changes the retail experience.
The exhibition consists of a number of works, the most sensational being Omnes Una Manet Nox (One night awaits us all), an oversized fairytale bed with a golden vulture sitting on one of the bed posts. Louis Vuitton employees will sleep in the bed throughout the day, encouraging them to commit the ultimate work faux pas, falling asleep on the job. Throughout the exhibition various renowned writers and actors will read sleeping staff a bedtime story, adding to the performance element of the piece and creating a nocturnal haven in the middle of the store.
There will also be an adult sized glossy white rocking horse, a small scale version of the artists’ Fourth Plinth sculpture, installed in the main lobby of the Maison. Drawing on the theme of childhood, the sculpture introduces a sense of play to the shopping experience immediately upon arrival. Other elements include a wall safe apparently wired up to sticks of dynamite and counting down to detonation, and a bird’s nest with a golden egg about to hatch, taking up space on the store chairs intended for weary customers. Throughout the Maison the scene is set for the unexpected to happen…