Carsten Höller

GIANT TRIPLE MUSHROOM

Gagosian Gallery, Paris, France

Giant Triple Mushroom (2024) by Carsten Höller is a monumental sculpture exhibited in Place Vendôme, Paris, as part of the Art Basel public programme. This hybrid botanical form stands approximately 3 metres tall and combines anatomical sections from three distinct mushroom species: Amanita muscaria, Phallus indusiatus, and Tricholoma columbetta.

Crafted in painted aluminium and stainless steel, the sculpture required advanced metalworking techniques, from sculpting botanical textures and curvatures to achieving a seamless integration between painted surfaces and structural elements. The result is a large-scale object that juxtaposes scientific modelling with artistic surrealism—characteristic of Höller’s conceptual explorations.

Rooted in the artist’s background in agricultural science, the sculpture acts as a magnified biological specimen, disrupting scale and perception. This piece continues the artist’s long-running “Giant Triple Mushroom” series, which plays with symmetry, segmentation, and hybridisation as sculptural strategies. Installed in an iconic urban setting, the work creates a dialogue between natural forms and monumental public art.