Luna Luna Forgotten Fantasy recreation in downtown LA- Preview, Tickets-Jan 2024
Luna Luna was an extraordinary experience. The history is incredible. To know all of these items shown were packed in shipping containers for 35 years after the original circus in Germany brought much excitement. Artists featured were carefully chosen. They had strong imprints in their way of showcasing their art in a memorable way. From Keith Haring’s colorful peole and animals to Basquiat’s unique touch each piece consisted of in depth work. There was everything from ferris wheels to carasouls and men on stilts and puppeteires.
Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy. More at www.lunaluna.com
A spectacular showcase of the world’s first art amusement park—lost since 1987
The world premiere of rediscovered one-of-a-kind artworks, including
a Ferris wheel by Jean-Michel Basquiat, a carousel by Keith Haring,
immersive pavilions by David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, and
Salvador Dalí, and the stories behind them
Opening December 2023 in Los Angeles, Luna Luna unveils
Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy, a spectacular showcase of the world’s first art amusement park.
Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy offers the contemporary public
an immersive experience of the recently rediscovered Luna
Luna. Conceived by Austrian showman, polymath, and artist
André Heller, Luna Luna was a fantastical fairground that
appeared in Hamburg, Germany, during the summer of 1987.
Fusing an amusement park with an art museum, it featured
rides, attractions, interactive installations, games, and
performances created by more than 30 of the most acclaimed
artists of the day, including Sonia Delaunay, Salvador Dalí,
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Rebecca
Horn, and Roy Lichtenstein. It was a radical and unprecedented
collaboration of artists from a wide range of notable art
movements, from Abstract Expressionism to Art Brut, Dada,
Fluxus, Neo-Expressionism, Nouveau Réalisme, Pop Art,
Surrealism, and Viennese Actionism.
Initially slated for a global tour, a change of ownership after the
Hamburg debut saw Luna Luna entangled in litigation and
locked away in storage. The artworks—including a full-size
Ferris wheel by Basquiat, a carousel by Haring, and Enchanted
Tree, a pavilion by Hockney—were not seen again for more than
three decades, and Luna Luna faded, inexplicably, into obscurity. Then, in early 2022, a team led by Drake’s non-traditional entertainment company DreamCrew—whose lead executive team includes Drake’s longtime manager Adel “Future” Nur, Anthony Gonzales, and Matte Babel—acquired
the entire contents of the original presentation and
transported it all to a warehouse in Los Angeles, where the
works have been carefully reconstructed by a team of experts,
with Rosa Lowinger leading conservation and Joel Searles
leading reassembly.
The works will be unveiled starting December 2023, in Luna
Luna: Forgotten Fantasy. The presentation includes a selection of the artist-created rides and attractions, mixed-media
showcases of archival materials that explore the context and
inspiration for Luna Luna, and glimpses into the process of
reassembling the works. The experience spans a 60,000-
square-foot warehouse complex, located on the east side of Los
Angeles on the border of the city’s downtown Arts District.
The show merges history and extravaganza, spectacle and
education. It has been developed by Luna Luna’s creative
studio, led by Michael Goldberg of Something Special Studios
and Charles Dorrance-King, with curation led by Lumi Tan and
team, alongside curatorial advisor Helen Molesworth. Limited
entry to David Hockney’s Enchanted Tree and Salvador Dalí’s
Dalídom will be available. At André Heller’s Wedding Chapel,
guests can marry whomever or whatever they wish. As an
homage to the spirit of the original Luna Luna, roving
performers will circulate, and music will be an integral part of
the visitor experience.
Visitors will also gain insight into the process of rediscovering
and reassembling Luna Luna, from unboxing the shipping
containers to solving the puzzle of how to rebuild the rides to
uncovering ephemera from the original fair.
The Luna Luna Shop will offer a curated selection of both new
and archival items that bring art to life, including posters,
merchandise, and ephemera from the original 1987 Luna
Luna, designed by artists such as Keith Haring, David
Hockney, and Kenny Scharf. Many archival items and new
designs will also be available online at lunaluna.com. Ahead
of the exhibition, Luna Luna reissued the Luna Luna book,
which documents the creation of the 1987 extravaganza,
newly translated from German into English (published by
Phaidon, available now).
Assisted Writing & Photos by Lisa Rosas