Hermès’s Madison Avenue flagship has stepped into Jeremy Olson’s uncanny universe. For the maison’s latest vitrine installation, the California-born, Brooklyn-based artist reimagines the storefront as a dreamlike landscape where portals emerge from couch cushions, curtains become thresholds, and familiar objects slip between realities. At its center is a luminous yellow horse moving through space as if crossing dimensions—a playful nod to Hermès’s equestrian heritage and enduring emblem.
Rendered in Olson’s signature visual language, the installation blurs the line between the domestic and the fantastical. Sneakers, leather goods, a chess set, timepiece, and other Hermès objects appear woven into surreal scenes that feel suspended somewhere between memory and imagination. A strategically placed mirror expands the environment beyond its physical limits, inviting passersby deeper into Olson’s world, where boundaries collapse and logic gives way to curiosity. The result is a meeting of two distinct universes—one rooted in craftsmanship, the other in dreamlike possibility. Jeremy Olson spoke with Whitewall about portals, playfulness, and the power of creating alternate realities.
Jeremy Olson On Curiosity and Play
Jeremy Olson Portrait. © Photo by Peter Clough.
WHITEWALL: Your work often explores the idea of portals appearing in unexpected places—moving through surfaces or slipping between worlds through a kind of dream logic. In this installation, figures crawl between couch cushions, curtains, ceilings, and pools of light. What draws you to this idea of spatial transformation and alternate realities?
JEREMY OLSON: Recognizing boundaries and making distinctions between objects, or people, or even ideas, is such a core part of being human that it’s often taken for granted. Of course many of these boundaries are fuzzy and somewhat arbitrary if not completely illusory. One of the interesting things art can do is play with these boundary edges, collapse them, flatten them, explode them. It may be a little bit on-the-nose to have figures literally disappearing into walls or teleporting between objects, but I never worried too much about being subtle.
“I try to keep the work playful and fun-to-make, because otherwise what’s the point?”
-Jeremy Olson.
WW: The narrative of the installation feels subconscious, where objects morph into another space entirely. Do these surreal environments come from actual dreams, or are they constructed intentionally through the painting process?
JL: My dreams can get pretty weird, but I’ve never tried to translate them so directly. Everything I make tends to build on previous work, and usually requires some degree of planning. I generally develop my ideas through a combination of drawing, 3D-modeling, and digital sculpting, but I try to leave room for chance and accidents to occur. I’m playing around a lot of the time. The final result is often very different from the initial idea.
WW: There’s a strong sense of childlike curiosity and exploration in the work, even within its uncanny atmosphere. How do you continue to nurture that sense of wonder in your practice?
JL: Hanging out with actual children doesn’t hurt. My daughter, and the children of my friends, constantly surprise me with their weird insights and questions. I try to keep the work playful and fun-to-make, because otherwise what’s the point? Of course I also draw so much inspiration from other artists, both contemporary and not, as well as music and novels and movies. Things feel quite bleak politically and economically, but there is so much cool and weird art being made that it gives me hope.
Between Narrative and Abstraction
Hermès Jet Sneaker. Courtesy of Hermès.
WW: How did scale become important to creating the psychological effect of the work?
JL: Scale is always important to me when I’m working on any project. These days most art is primarily experienced as an image on a screen, but I always hope the encounter with the actual object is a different experience. Scale situates the work directly in relation to the viewer’s body, shifting it in one direction or another can have a significant effect.
WW: A mirror flanks the installation and visually expands the environment beyond its physical boundaries. What role did reflection and perspective play in shaping the experience of the work?
JL: Mirrors play an important role in mythology, psychoanalytic theory, and obviously in cinema. I’m interested in both their overdetermined metaphorical qualities, as well as the way they interrupt and expand physical space.
“I never want to spell everything out, I want the viewer to sort of finish the work,”
-Jeremy Olson.
WW: The glowing globe lamp and trailing cord create a physical connection between different scenes within the work. How important is narrative continuity in your installations, even when the imagery feels surreal or fragmented?
JL: There’s always a balancing act between a kind of narrative continuity and its interruption or fragmentation. I never want to spell everything out, I want the viewer to sort of finish the work and come to their own interpretation and experience. But conversely I have a lot of very specific elements I want to include, references to familiar objects or nostalgic colorways, etc. I don’t want things to go completely gloopy.
The Memory of Landscape
Hermès Miles Jacron H Cap. Courtesy of Hermès.
WW: You were raised in Ojai, and many of your landscapes and interiors reference deserts, caves, rocks, and expansive outdoor environments. Do you see your upbringing in California continuing to shape your visual language?
JL: While I was born in Ojai, my family moved around a bit when I was young; first to New Mexico, and then Colorado, where I spent most of my childhood and adolescence. We later moved to Tucson, Arizona, and I ended up staying there for undergrad. So I sort of had a full tour of the Southwest growing up. I was kind of an indoor kid, and somewhat resented family hikes and trips to the mountains. I was drawn to the city, where I was sure exciting things must be happening. It’s no surprise I eventually ended up in New York. As an adult I have a more positive relationship to the outdoors. I miss the expansive landscapes of the American West. They find their way into my dreams, and obviously my art.
WW: Now based in Brooklyn, how has the city influenced your work, as this series was presented at Hermès on Madison Avenue?
JL: I think I wanted to live in New York before I even knew it, and once I got here I’ve never really wanted to leave. Despite its myriad challenges, and the compromises one makes to stay here, I still truly love this city. New York is really so many cities stacked right on top of one another, really disparate lives overlapping with all the tension and energy that creates.
WW: Are there any upcoming projects, collaborations, or exhibitions you’re especially excited about heading into 2026?
JL: I just wrapped a solo show in Miami with Mindy Solomon Gallery, and I’m currently making work for an upcoming solo show at Future Gallery in Berlin that will open in December. I have a couple of other projects further out on the horizon, but I can’t get into the details yet.
