Louis Vuitton Celebrates Two Decades of Frank Gehry Collaboration at Art Basel Paris
October 19, 2024
Louis Vuitton presented a retrospective exhibition at Art Basel Paris's Grand Palais, chronicling its two-decade collaboration with visionary architect Frank Gehry. The installation, gracefully positioned on the Balcon d'Honneur, reflects the Maison's commitment to artistic innovation.
A monumental white fish sculpture, suspended above the grand staircase, serves as the installation's triumph, embodying Gehry's vision of form and movement. This sculptural installation is encircled by an intricate lattice of wooden slats—a reminder of the architect's profound appreciation for Japanese aesthetics.
The exhibition also marks the decennial celebration of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Gehry's tour de force of 21st-century architecture. Through meticulous archival drawings from 2006 and crystalline scale models, the showcase illuminates his revolutionary approach to transparency and light—principles that later materialized in the ethereal Maison Louis Vuitton Seoul (2019).
From monumental architecture to intimate sculptural objects, Gehry's artistic vision seamlessly translates across scales. His 2021 Blossom perfume stoppers for Les Extraits collection—organic forms capturing both floral delicacy and flame-like dynamism—were reimagined in 2022 through the artisanal mastery of Murano glasswork.
The Louis Vuitton by Frank Gehry bag collection exemplifies where architectural brilliance meets leather goods savoir-faire. The Capucines MM Concrete Pockets channels the monumentality of the Guggenheim Bilbao, while the BB Shimmer Haze evokes Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture. The collection's zenith, the Twisted Box, reimagines the Maison's iconic Monogram canvas through Gehry's paradigm-shifting spatial approach.
The exhibition, marking Louis Vuitton's third year as Art Basel Paris associate partner, runs from October 18-20 at the Grand Palais, embodying the Maison's century-long dedication to artistic collaboration since Gaston-Louis Vuitton's pioneering patronage.
