The LUMA Foundation, a 27-acre creative campus at the Parc des Ateliers in the city of Arles, opened to the public over the weekend. The foundation features work by over 45 artists and designers in the opening program, with special new commissions by major international artists, including Etel Adnan, Ólafur Elíasson, Koo Jeong A, Kapwani Kiwanga, Helen Marten, Pierre Huyghe, Carsten Höller, Philippe Parreno and Rirkrit Tiravanija.
LUMA Arles, photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy to LUMA Foundation.
LUMA Arles, photo by Iwan Baan, courtesy to LUMA Foundation.
At the heart of the site is Frank Gehry’s 15,000-square-metre tower with a surrounding outdoor area. Major new outdoor artworks include a 13-meter-high pink sculpture by Franz West and a full-scale glow in the dark skatepark by Jeong A, which is illuminated at night with fluorescent paint. Höller’s Seven Sliding Doors Corridor, a mirrored and seemingly endless passage which visitors can explore, has been reimagined and installed across the site’s pond.
“The Impermanent Display,” photo by Marc Domage, courtesy to the artist and LUMA Foundation.
“The Impermanent Display,” photo by Marc Domage, courtesy to the artist and LUMA Foundation.
Etel Adnan, “Untitled” Series, 2010-2015, oil painting on canvas, stretched on stretcher, framed. “The Impermanent Display,” photo by Marc Domage, courtesy to the artist and LUMA Foundation.
The Tower features several artist commissions throughout its 12 levels. Philippe Parreno has created Danny, a new permanent immersive artwork using algorithmic technology. A unique ceramic wall mural by Adnan covers the entire back wall of the auditorium, and a new site-specific iteration of Elíasson’s Take your Time, a circular rotating mirror affixed to the ceiling, is installed above the monumental, double-helix staircase. Höller has installed a new iteration of his renowned experimental artwork Isometric Slides too, which act as one of the building’s means of transporting visitors, and Christian Marclay’s The Clock, a 24-hour video montage exploring the perception of time.
Christian Marclay, “The Clock,” 2010, video installation, photo by Marc Domage, courtesy to the artist and LUMA Foundation.
Peter Fischli and David Weiss, “Untitled,” 2011, clay and rubber. “The Impermanent Display,” photo by Marc Domage, courtesy to the artist and LUMA Foundation.
Also presented in The Tower, “The Impermanent Display” is a new exhibition of artworks from the LUMA Foundation / Maja Hoffmann collection, including Tiravanija, Arthur Jafa, Urs Fischer, Paul McCarthy, Precious Okoyomon, among others. The exhibition “Three Generations: Works from the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation Collection” showcases artworks from one of the most extensive collections of European and Western avant-garde artists in the world, including works by Bruce Nauman, Richard Long, Duane Michals, Cy Twombly and Rosemarie Trockel. Exhibitions presented as part of the annual Rencontres d’Arles will also be on display at La Mécanique Générale.A number of new exhibitions will open across the LUMA Arles campus. In La Grande Halle, Huyghe presents After UUmwelt, a new site-specific artwork which develops over the time of the exhibition. In La Mécanique Générale, “Prelude” presents the work of four emerging contemporary artists: Sophia Al Maria, Kiwanga, P.Staff and Jakob Kudsk Steensen. This highly immersive exhibition will feature new work in diverse media, including film and video, virtual reality, sculpture, and sound.
“The Impermanent Display,” photo by Marc Domage, courtesy to the artist and LUMA Foundation.
