LOUIS VUITTON AND ART

Symbol of elegance and exquisite French lifestyle, Louis Vuitton has maintained close links with the arts for more than a century and a half. Founded during the industrial era, Louis Vuitton has always been in step with its time, working with the best engineers, decorators and creators. Inventor of the art of travel, the man Louis Vuitton and his successors have forged a strong relationship between traditional know how and present day design.

The arrival of Marc Jacobs and artistic director in 1997 reinforced and underlined the link with artists. Exemplary collaboration with Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince has marked the history of the relationship between art and commerce. In Hong Kong, the Louis Vuitton and Art exhibition brings this exciting story to life, analysing the unique creative process through installations, where works of art and archive documents are brought together.

THE FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON POUR LA CREATION

The Architectural Project

Frank Gehry has designed a powerful and innovative building to embody the ambitions of the Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création. At the Jardin d’Acclimatation, he has successfully combined dream and reality with technological and artistic innovation. “During my first visit here, I thought of Marcel Proust, and was moved to tears,” Gehry explains. “Because this was the Bois de Boulogne and the Jardin d’Acclimatation, the idea of a glass pavilion was the only possible way forward for me. It seemed inappropriate to create a solid object; I wanted to express a notion of transparency.”

The Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création, covering 8,900 square metres, will be located on the outskirts of Paris, within the Bois de Boulogne to the West of the capital. 3,200 square metres of the building will house a series of galleries designed to accommodate both permanent collections and temporary exhibitions.

There will be a number of “chapels”, each dedicated to specially commissioned installations. As visitors move from gallery to gallery, large expanses of glass will provide breathtaking views, integrating the landscape into the building. An auditorium will be used as an exhibition space as well as other cultural and performance events.

The use of glass as the primary exterior material plays a principal role in the architectural spirit and inspiration of the Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création building. Its transparency and light ensure that the building complements its natural environment.

DESIGN ARCHITECT: Gehry Partners, LLP

The Collection, a Choice

This exhibition of a selection of works from the Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création brings together a small number of significant large-scale works (paintings, photographs, video installations) by European, American and Chinese artists. These reflect an urban and energetic culture, leading to fictional landscapes, somewhere between dream and adventure.

Artists include: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paul Chan, Cao-Fei, Yang Fudong, Gilbert & George, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Andreas Gursky, Pierre Huyghe, Jeff Koons, Bertrand Lavier, Christian Marclay, Richard Prince.

Works by recognised and newly-discovered international artists working in the medium of video will be shown : Bas Jan Ader (Netherlands), Kader Attia, Cyprien Gaillard, Ange Leccia, Philippe Parreno (France), Olga Chernysheva (Russia), David Claerbout (Belgium), Trisha Donnelly, Ryan Trecartin (USA), Steve Mc Queen (Great Britain), Anri Sala (Albania), Zhou Tao (China), Rosemarie Trockel (Germany) among others.

In a developing open-minded spirit, the Foundation is eager to invite ‘emerging’ Hong Kong artists to take part in this exhibition with the help of a young art critic and curator who lives in China.