From 10 October, the Fondation Louis Vuitton is hosting a remarkable new exhibition to present works from New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The display—Being Modern: MoMA in Paris—will house artwork that has been acquired by the prestigious institution since its founding in 1929.
A wondrous spectrum of genres and movements will be covered within the exhibit, from Pop Art to Minimalism and contemporary. Combined, these works will seek to create an overall vision of MoMA’s renovation project, which is charted for completion in 2019. A range of mediums—such as sculpture, photography, painting and installation—will also feature, providing attendees with a more versatile experience.
Spanning four floors of the quirky Frank Gehry-designed building, the exhibition will finally capture the MoMA’s prized collection. They have held this impressive assortment with a firm grasp for many years, much to the detriment of other global museums.
‘It’s a unique opportunity to tell the story of how the museum’s unparalleled holdings were assembled both in and outside of New York,’ says MoMA director Glenn Lowry.
Iconic artists will be included in the showcase, with the likes of Paul Cézanne, Edward Hopper, Henri Matisse, René Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol drawing the majority of the attention.
An alternative home
The Parisian setting poses as a swanky alternative ‘home’ to these works which may have otherwise been put away in storage during the MoMA’s renovation. It could be argued that the change of location offers a more dynamic viewpoint on some of the art in the collection. Against Fondation Louis Vuitton, which is synonymous with affluent style, works such as LaToya Ruby Frazier’s photo series, The Notion of Family (2001-present)—depicting the livelihood of a black working class family—manage to stand out and feel more poignant.
More recent additions to the art scene will also enter the spotlight. Artists like Janet Cardiff, Lele Saveri, AA Bronson, Roman Ondák and Ian Cheng have garnered international prestige amongst the art community and will be showing their most disruptive pieces to date. The layout will be structured in a cohesive manner, methodically transporting attendees through the collection’s progressions.
‘We’ve set aside the traditional objective of the survey exhibition—comprehensive and cohesive coverage—to focus instead on the evolution of the collection over the past almost 90 years,’ Lowry remarks.
Contextual topics of globalisation and technology will also be explored via digital installations, allowing viewers to feel a part of the institution’s overall mission. The top floor of the display explores the latest acquisitions made by MoMA in the last two years including Lele Saveri’s The Newsstand (2015)—which was originally placed at an urban subway stop—and Shigetaka Kurita’s stream of emoji characters.
Fondation Louis Vuitton hosts the new exhibition: ‘Being Modern: MoMA in Paris’ until 8 March 2018.
See also: Five Centuries of Fashion
