Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, known for spectacular art actions such as a Prada boutique in the Texas desert, have reinterpreted the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. Their exhibition “Still Life with Vegetables” is on view until January 17, 2027, as reported by the FAZ. The duo has created two site-specific installations and brought an older work that specifically references Frankfurt.
“We spread through the entire museum like a friendly virus,” Dragset describes the approach. The artists transform the spaces so that they differ from ordinary exhibition rooms. Elmgreen adds: “The two site-specific installations show two sides of our everyday life. If you work very hard downstairs in the room, you might be able to pay the bill upstairs.”
The Städel owns works from over 700 years, including many still lifes. Dragset sees a parallel to the present: “If you think about how we use images online today, on Instagram, we are actually constantly presenting still lifes.” The way people show their food or restaurant visits is a modern form of this genre.
With the exhibition, Elmgreen and Dragset want to invite visitors to a physical experience. “We hope to bring people together in a physical space and convey to them the joy of a physical experience,” says Elmgreen. Dragset emphasizes that for artists who have long viewed institutions critically, it is now time to appreciate museums as places of togetherness and analog encounter.
