The Fondation Louis Vuitton opens an exciting cultural chapter for Paris
Art fans, you may want to visit Paris’ latest art museum and cultural centre, The Fondation Louis Vuitton. It has recently secured the internationally renowned artist dubbed the 'Philosopher of Spectacle', Olafur Eliasson for its inaugural exhibition.
The Danish-Icelandic artist takes the honour of being the first to exhibit at the Fondation Louis Vuitton after gaining gravitas as one of the world’s leading artists in sculpture and large-scale installation. Eliasson is intrinsically linked with the Fondation with his work permanently featured in the museum's “grotto” – a forest of mirrored yellow columns, which cast a sunny glow and infinite repetitions of passersby.
As part of Eliasson’s first solo show in France since his 2002 exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 'Contact', which is his latest exhibition, envelops visitors in a choreography of moving light and shadows, seemingly transporting them into the darkness of outer space. On the roof, Olafur Eliasson will install an apparatus that tracks the sun and, at certain hours of the day, directs light rays onto a multifaceted, geometric sculpture suspended within the building.
In 2006 at the initiative of Bernard Arnault, LVMH created the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Designed by American architect Frank Gehry, it is part of the sponsorship policy in favour of art and culture developed by the group for over twenty years. It is also a private cultural initiative and aims to promote and support contemporary art to a wider public.
The exhibition will run until 16 February 2015.
