CULTURE

An Artist and His Hominoid Collaborator’s Otherworldly Vision

by Jamie Brisick

A chimpanzee standing on the top of stairs while holding onto a stair railing

The artist Alex Israel—together with a hominoid collaborator—masterminds an out-of-this-world intervention in a house designed by Tadao Ando for two of L.A.’s most renowned art patrons.

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Photographs by Adrian Gaut

Eli the explorer ventures into the famous Art House.

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A moment of repose.

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Eli ponders whether to have Hirst’s Forgotten Love, 2008, as a snack.

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Eli comes face to face with Damien Hirst’s Black Sheep, 2007.

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Jeff Koons’s Popeye, 2009, helps Eli find his inner strength.

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Looking past Marcel Duchamp’s L.H.O.O.Q, 1964, Eli zeroes in on something he knows and loves: a spinning wheel. This one is Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel, 1964.

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Koons’s Play-Doh, 1994–2014, reminds Eli of his carefree days as a baby.

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He scampers down the steps past Andy Warhol’s Joseph Beuys, 1980.

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Photographs by Adrian Gaut; Risky Business: courtesy of Alex Israel

Cradling Alex Israel’s Risky Business, 2014–2015, in a moment of contemplation.

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Eli ponders his next move.

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