Esben Weile Kjær: FOOL | Albion Jeune
Blow-up art, eh. After a seven year gap between writing about inflatables in galleries, now I’m writing about it twice in a month.
When I entered the Albion Jeune gallery in Fitzrovia earlier this week, just after opening time, the gallerist hit a button, and a roaring sound echoed off the walls. In a few seconds flat, an enormous velvet purple dragon sprang to life. It lolled on the floor in an oddly provocative pose, its plush skin tumescent. The roar was replaced by a low hum, as the air pumped into its body.
This silly but eyecatching work is from the Danish artist Esben Weile Kjær, who is allegedly fascinated both by the medieval period and by the recent so-called “consumerist meltdown in the West”.
The former fascination explains the other works on show: a range of stained glass, depicting jesters (the Fools) of the title. There are mirrored sections, obviously implying that we’re the fools, too.
Meanwhile, there’s something of the consumerist meltdown in the plush dragon, which in form looks more like an ultra-oversized version of something you could get off Temu, rather than something that might have adorned the wall of a stone cathedral.
But anyway, the combination was arresting, and I enjoyed watching it blow up. Enough with the inflatable art coverage, for now.
Esben Weile Kjær: FOOL is at Albion Jeune (London). 11 February - 21 March 2026