Jeremy Olson Builds a Wondrous World in the Hermès Madison Avenue Windows

Dream logic—or, more specifically, the imagination of Jeremy Olson—governs the world currently within the windows of Hermès Madison Avenue. There, the Ojai–born, Brooklyn–based artist has assembled a playfully surreal portal between elevated domestic space and anthropomorphic puppet show. Represented by Mindy Solomon Gallery in Miami and Unit London in the U.K., Olson often renders otherworlds through painting or sculpture, but here an installation comes to life that harnesses visual threads, worth untangling, that nod to the French maison.

“I have more ideas than I have time to explore, but they can be somewhat amorphous and need to be sort of wrestled into a shape,” the artist tells Surface of the variations in his world-building process. “I still begin most projects with drawing, but increasingly much of the early stages are worked on digitally, usually in Blender. It’s amazing to be able to rotate around a scene while blocking it out, zooming in and out, playing with camera angles and lighting. At this point I have a sort of stable of characters and stylistic or architectural elements that I find myself returning to, even though I usually start each particular piece from scratch.”

For the window display, Olson had to take into consideration the already whimsical world of Hermès—complete with its recurring motifs and animal symbolism. Additionally, Hermès asked the artist to reference its equestrian roots. “There was an early decision to go ‘full muppet’ with the horse figure,” he says. “I’ve talked about muppets in relation to my characters before, but they are usually a bit more fleshy and organic, nestled a bit deeper in the uncanny valley. When I arrived at this slightly deranged horse-muppet character, it felt like the right mix of whimsy and strangeness.”

Every detail is the result of careful consideration, as is the fact that there are very few hard edges within the installation. “The furniture and lamps are all quite organic, with undulating curves and a subtle biomorphism,” Olson continues. “I was responding to elements of the actual interior of the store as well as my own design aesthetics. The shag carpet and felt curtains further augment the soft yellow fleece of the horse. Even though the figure is literally in three separate pieces, it’s meant to feel gentle and fluid rather than violent.”

In fact, as with Olson’s other work, there’s observational wit at play. The same is true of Hermès, which continues to demonstrate that narrative humor and a touch of eccentricity have a place within the highest echelons of luxury.