Trunk Show

TOLAND GRINNELL'S ART UNPACKS FANTASY

His sculptures are like music boxes, deeply adult dollhouses, fetish palaces—seductive, charming fantasies. Unfolded, they reveal themselves to be delightfully decadent, overthe-top, perverse pop altars to luxury and desire.

At 31, Toland Grinnell happily straddles the worlds of high art and commerce, building himself as a brand, a creator of objects in the extreme. This fall, five new pieces will be shown at New York's Visionaire Gallery, with other pieces featured in exhibitions at London's Sprovieri Gallery and at New York's Sperone Westwater.

His objects begin with handmade leather trunks, honoring oldworld craftsmanship—there is a place for everything and then some. In Fouler Court, an English saddle folds out for the viewer to sit on. The level of detailing is extravagant, the hardware is gold, champagne is served, and there is a Swarovski crystal "sparkle pit" to play with. Friendship's Palace is a high-end Habitrail built for the billionaire pet owner on the go, complete with a gold-plated exercise wheel. These artifacts are portraits of society in excess, at once ironic and utterly sincere. "I am a cross between Walt Disney and Karl Lagerfeld," Grinnell says. Visionaire's Cecilia Dean sums it up: "He is creating the ultimate luxury item. This is a product for someone who has everything and needs more." A. M. HOMES