K-BAR

A fascinating site-specific installation, K-BAR by Elmgreen & Dragset pays homage to the artist Martin Kippenberger.

Spread across over 200 acres in Pong Ta Long, Thailand, the Khao Yai Art Forest is a newly opened, open-air gallery that allows visitors to experience and engage with contemporary art differently. Instead of sitting within the confines of the four white walls typical of modern art galleries, the site-specific installations become a part of the diverse natural landscape, including mountain tops, fields and rolling hills. Among the various excellent works, however, none captivated us more than K-BAR. The brainchild of Elmgreen & Dragset, a Berlin-based duo formed in 1995 by artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, this almost Lynchian architectural installation creates an immersive experience centered around the work and life of the late German artist Martin Kippenberger.

Nestled in a forest, K-BAR appears as an incongruous urban element in the tropical setting. A grass pathway cuts through the vegetation, leading to the entrance. The structure maintains an air of mystery. It remains closed to the public except for one day per month; even then, it stays open for 6 hours only. However, through the large glass doors, visitors can always admire a Martin Kippenberger painting, Untitled (1996), hung on the wall on one side of the bar.

When it opens, K-BAR allows art lovers to indulge in specially made cocktails – a reference to Kippenberger’s famous love of alcohol. Elmgreen & Dragset collaborated with a local mixologist to create the menu, which includes tongue-in-cheek twists on classics, from Dry Martin to Thai Negroni or Painter’s Punch.

With only six seats available, the bar provides an intimate cocktail drinking experience. The interior design teleports visitors into a sleek urban setting, but created in the middle of the lush woodland. Beyond the box-like pavilion with dark gray walls, visitors discover a stylish space with red leather stools, dark blue walls, a textured terrazzo floor, a wood and steel bar, and brightly lit shelves with neatly placed bottles.

K-BAR explores Elmgreen & Dragset’s concept of “denials”, or artworks that appear functional yet deny interaction. The duo perfectly captured this idea in their well-known Prada Marfa (2005) installation, a permanently closed building with a Prada storefront located in the Texan desert. Additionally, K-BAR opens up a conversation about art repatriation. Here, the duo flips the history of colonial looting of art and artifacts by placing a European painting in a Southeast Asian setting.

Opened at the beginning of February 2025, the Khao Yai Art Forest welcomes visitors from Thursday to Sunday. The lucky ones will be able to sip a cocktail at the K-BAR and experience this fascinating installation fully. Photography© Andrea Rossetti.