On Rue de Turenne (Paris 3rd arrondissement), the gallery has found its new attraction: a gallery assistant slumped over her desk, eyelids closed, looking as if she no longer wants to answer any emails. Until October 31, 2025,the exhibition October 2025, visible day and night and free of charge, offers a scene of disconcerting realism. And for good reason: this woman does not exist—she is a hyperrealistic sculpture by Elmgreen & Dragset, the duo who shake our certainties with contemporary trompe-l'oeil.
Not a single fold of clothing left to chance, not a single hair out of place... you'd think she was breathing! Deep sleep or polite refusal of productivity? A momentary daydream or burnout? Each passerby projects their own scenario onto this frozen scene, both mundane and poignant.
With a simple shift—the desk, usually hidden in the back, now sits in the spotlight—Elmgreen & Dragset also shift our gaze. Like their famous Prada Marfa (2005)—that ghostly Prada boutique planted in the Texas desert—they transform the window display into a blurred boundary between art and everyday life, between observation and introspection, between fiction and truth.
A year after L'Addition at the Musée d'Orsay, where they reinterpreted the codes of classical sculpture and masculinity, the Berlin-based duo of Danish artist Michael Elmgreen and Norwegian artist Ingar Dragset continues to question the visibility and rituals of the art world. Since 1995, these sculptors of reality have been shaping our perceptions with precise humor and a sense of detail that is easy to mistake for the real thing.
A motionless work, but impossible to ignore—a nap that, paradoxically, wakes us all up.
Dates and Opening Time
From October 18, 2025 to October 31, 2025
Location
MASSIMODECARLO Gallery Unique Piece
57 Rue de Turenne
75003 Paris 3
Access
Metro 8 Chemin Vert
Prices
Free
More information
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
