Wes Anderson is taking his eye for meticulous set design from the silver screen to Gagosian Paris. In collaboration with curator Jasper Sharp, Anderson will recreate the New York studio of American assemblage artist Joseph Cornell for “The House on Utopia Parkway,” opening December 16th. The exhibition marks the first solo presentation of Cornell’s work in Paris in more than 40 years.
Born in Nyack, New York, in 1903, Cornell is best known for his intricate glass-fronted boxes and assemblages. He created these using found materials such as marbles, maps, toys, and other objects from his large collection, which he called his “spare parts department.” A self-taught artist, he drew inspiration from Surrealism, Victorian ephemera, and early cinema, often evoking themes of memory and longing. These themes also emerge in the work of Anderson, who is known for his precisely composed films like The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and Asteroid City (2023).
“The House on Utopia Parkway” will transform Gagosian’s storefront space with over 300 items drawn from Cornell’s personal collection. Designed with exhibition designer Cécile Dégos and Anderson’s longtime collaborators, the installation will include shadow boxes, assemblages, and ephemera that reflect Cornell’s fascination with collecting and memory.
Among the key works in the exhibition are Pharmacy (1943), a box filled with pharmaceutical bottles once owned by Marcel Duchamp and his wife, Teeny; Untitled (Pinturicchio Boy) (ca. 1950), a memory box from the “Medici” series; and A Dessing Room for Gille (1939), a box inspired by Jean-Antoine Watteau’s Gilles (1718–19).
Anderson and Sharp modeled their reconstruction of the artist’s studio on archival photographs. The pair will recreate Cornell’s work table at the center of the gallery, staged to be in progress. The exhibition will also include loans from the Joseph Cornell Study Center at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, including unfinished boxes that provide insight into the artist’s process.
Meanwhile, Anderson himself is the subject of an upcoming retrospective at the Design Museum in London, opening on November 21st.
