Art

Kaari Upson’s “Dollhouse – A Retrospective”: An x-ray of the American psyche

From 27 May – 26 Oct 2025, Denmark’s Louisiana Museum unveils the first European retrospective of the late U.S. provocateur Kaari Upson—an immersive maze of doll parts, domestic relics and psycho-family lore.

Por: Angela Leon Cervera
Kaari Upson
‘Kaari Upson: Dollhouse – A Retrospective’ at Louisiana. Photo: @louisianamuseum

Move over, Little Mermaid: Humlebæk’s Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is about to become the most unsettling playground in Scandinavia. Kaari Upson (1970-2021)—LA’s fearless chronicler of desire, loss and suburban dread—finally receives a full European salute.

 

From 27 May to 26 October 2025, her polymorph universe of latex limbs, burned mattresses and hand-scratched drawings floods the museum’s glass pavilions. Expect emotion, not decor: this is a house party for every childhood fear you never quite outgrew.

Kaari Upson
‘Kaari Upson: Dollhouse – A Retrospective’ at Louisiana. Photo: @louisianamuseum

Inside the Show: Five Rooms You Can’t Unsee

  • “The Larry Project” (2005-2012)
    Upson’s forensic obsession with a mysterious Beverly Hills neighbor—recast as an aging Playboy figure—sprawls across drawings, videos and resin casts. True-crime meets pop mythology.

  • Mother’s Legs (2011/2015)
    Latex appendages the size of oak trunks dangle like protective yet suffocating guardians. Part comfort blanket, part maternal trap.

  • Foot Face Series (2019-20) European debut
    Tender silicone feet morph into portrait busts—an eerie mother-daughter duet on love and dependency.

  • Bedroom Videos
    Night-vision films where the artist reenacts childhood rituals amid collapsing dollhouses. Bring headphones; the whisper soundtrack is ASMR gone gothic.

  • House of Failure Drawings
    Hundreds of graphite sketches pinned salon-style, mapping Upson’s lifelong push-and-pull between fantasy and flesh.

Kaari Upson
‘Kaari Upson: Dollhouse – A Retrospective’ at Louisiana. Photo: @louisianamuseum
Kaari Upson
‘Kaari Upson: Dollhouse – A Retrospective’ at Louisiana. Photo: @louisianamuseum

Context Check: Why Upson Still Stings

  • Artistic Lineage – Think Louise Bourgeois’s bodily memories, Mike Kelley’s abject toys and Cindy Sherman’s identity games, shaken into a 21st-century cocktail of Instagram oversharing and opioid anxiety.

  • Material Alchemy – Upson turns mattresses, drywall and thrift-store Barbies into avatar-laden reliquaries; nothing stays innocent.

  • Emotional GPS – Childhood bedrooms, Vegas wedding chapels, hospice rooms—her sets mirror the American life-cycle with zero sentimentality.

Quick Facts for the Trip

  • Dates: 27 May – 26 Oct 2025

  • Venue: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Gl. Strandvej 13, 3050 Humlebæk, Denmark

  • Hours: Tue–Fri 11:00-22:00; Sat–Sun 11:00-18:00; Mon closed

  • Tickets: Adults DKK 145; Students DKK 125; companions of visitors with disabilities free

  • Getting There: 35 min train from Copenhagen Central to Humlebæk Station, then a 12-min seaside walk.

Kaari Upson
‘Kaari Upson: Dollhouse – A Retrospective’ at Louisiana. Photo: @louisianamuseum

“Dollhouse – A Retrospective” isn’t a nostalgia trip; it’s an x-ray of the American psyche refracted through Kaari Upson’s relentless imagination.

 

Between giant maternal limbs and voyeuristic video loops, the Louisiana Museum transforms into a haunted playroom where memory, fantasy and grief wrestle for space. Go for the coastal Danish light, stay for the catharsis—and leave realizing that the scariest dolls are the ones we carry inside.

Kaari Upson at Louisiana

  • Will the show be kid-friendly? Content leans mature (body trauma, explicit drawings). Under-12s at parental discretion.
  • Is photography allowed? Yes, no flash. Tripods only on Wednesday nights with free photo permit at info desk.
  • Catalogue? A 320-page English/Danish volume drops 15 May; pre-order via louisiana.dk/shop.
  • Accessibility? Entire route step-free; tactile floor map and large-print labels available.

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