‘He (Green) is our male counterpart to Copenhagen’s famous The Little Mermaid, from a story by Hans Christian Andersen. One of six versions in different finishes, He (Green) is based on our public sculpture Han (which means “he” in Danish), commissioned for the Kulturværftet (Culture Yard) in Helsingør, Denmark and installed in 2012.

Helsingør, formerly the most important city in Denmark, is home to the castle Kronborg, which was the residence of the king, as mentioned in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In Helsingør, Han is situated on a jetty protruding from a onetime shipyard in what was previously an industrial area, gazing out at the sea. The sculpture’s polished stainless steel surface creates a distorted image of the surroundings and the viewer, and its eyes are equipped with a hydraulic mechanism so that it randomly winks once an hour. Instead of a fish-tail, the young man has human legs, and he sits in exactly the same position as his female counterpart – an aspect that led to a heated media debate in Denmark about national cultural heritage, masculinity and sexuality.

The naked male body in a reclining pose relates to broader themes in our work about questioning traditional notions of masculinity. We often show the male form – a leitmotif in our sculptural works – during childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood in a moment of contemplation, vulnerability, wonder, fear, excitement or discomfort, or a combination of these. These depictions subvert the conventional representation of masculinity in classical sculpture, which often portrays the male figure in a heroic posture.’ – Elmgreen & Dragset

Michael Elmgreen (born 1961 in Copenhagen, Denmark) and Ingar Dragset (born 1969 in Trondheim, Norway) are based in Berlin and have worked together as an artist duo since 1995. They have held numerous solo exhibitions at art institutions worldwide, including the current exhibition Elmgreen & Dragset: 2020 at EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland (26 September 2020–17 January 2021); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2019-20); The Whitechapel Gallery, London (2018–19); Museum Haus Lange, Kunstmuseen Krefeld (2017); FLAG Art Foundation, New York (2016); Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2016); UCCA, Beijing (2016); PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul (2015); Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (2014); Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2014); Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2013–14); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2011); ZKM Museum of Modern Art, Karlsruhe (2010); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (2009); The Power Plant, Toronto (2006); Serpentine Gallery, London (2006); Tate Modern, London (2004); and Kunsthalle Zürich (2001).

Their work has been included in the Bangkok (2018), Istanbul (2013, 2011, 2001), Liverpool (2012), Performa 11 (New York, 2011), Singapore (2011), Moscow (2011, 2007), Venice (2009, 2003), Gwangju (2006, 2002), São Paulo (2002), and Berlin (1998) biennials, and in 2009 they received a special mention for their exhibition The Collectors in the Nordic and Danish Pavilions at the 53rd Venice Biennale. Elmgreen & Dragset curated the 15th Istanbul Biennial in 2017. The artists were shortlisted for the Hugo Boss Prize, Guggenheim Museum, New York (2000) and won the Preis der Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2002). In 2012 Elmgreen & Dragset were selected for London’s Fourth Plinth Commission in Trafalgar Square.