Juergen Teller: The Myth

The Tellers' rejoinder to the "legs up" fertility myth, as photographed in the cherub-bedecked rooms of the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni

A collaboration with his wife Dovile Drizyte, The Myth is Juergen Teller's (born 1964) playful interpretation of the "legs up" fertility myth. Following the humorous 2021 series We are Building our Future Together, in which the Tellers dressed up as construction workers on building sites, this project reflects the next stage of their relationship as they start a family together. The enchanting location is the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, a hotel brimming with art alluding to motherhood and the family unit; the paintings and sculptures of pregnancy, babies, storks and cherubs figure as cheeky good luck charms for their child's imminent birth. The Tellers created images in each of the hotel's 97 unique rooms--in some we see the whole of Drizyte's naked body, while in others her cropped legs or feet appear unexpectedly, peeking behind duvets, curtains and furniture, generating tender, playful juxtapositions.