LUMA Arles redefines city with renewed energy
전체 맥락을 이해하기 위해서는 본문 보기를 권장합니다.
"France is very centralized around Paris, and people here felt quite remote and somewhat overlooked," he said. "So creating something of this level of excellence on an international scale makes a strong statement."
Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, artistic director of LUMA Arles, referred to the work as "the future of creating images and producing stories and many narratives."
이 글자크기로 변경됩니다.
(예시) 가장 빠른 뉴스가 있고 다양한 정보, 쌍방향 소통이 숨쉬는 다음뉴스를 만나보세요. 다음뉴스는 국내외 주요이슈와 실시간 속보, 문화생활 및 다양한 분야의 뉴스를 입체적으로 전달하고 있습니다.
ARLES, France — Along the drive to Arles, extensive sunflower fields extend into the horizon under golden dazzling sunlight. One may realize right away why Vincent Van Gogh was drawn to paint sunflowers during his time in this southern region of France.
Upon arriving at LUMA Arles, its iconic tower, designed by architect Frank Gehry, comes into sight. Made of steel, concrete and glass, the building shimmers, reflecting light and the blue sky. It is instantly reminiscent of Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.”
Van Gogh stayed in Arles for less than two years in 1888 and 1889, but he created more than 400 paintings and drawings here, shaping the artist’s iconic painting style that is now widely known, according to Mustapha Bouhayati, CEO of LUMA Arles.
“It is light — the light in Arles — that inspires you along with the elements. ‘The Starry Night,’ for example. You see the swirls in his painting, and it gives me the impression that he painted the wind itself. While many see Van Gogh as a modern artist, to me, he is a very contemporary artist because he was conceptual in what he wanted to represent.
“There was an urge in him to paint, to draw, to do something here. It is really, really interesting,” Bouhayati told The Korea Herald on Saturday.
LUMA Arles is located at the Parc des Ateliers, an industrial site built in the 19th century for the construction and repair of locomotives, which was active just before the Second World War and completely closed in the 1980s as the business wound down.
Revitalizing the abandoned space, the cultural complex opened to the public in 2021 with several industrial buildings renovated. The initiative was led by Maja Hoffmann, the founder of the LUMA Foundation and heir to a Swiss pharmaceutical fortune.
On the ninth floor of the tower is a terrace where one can enjoy a panoramic view of Arles overlooking the surrounding landscape and a Roman amphitheater and theater. The city, once a Roman colony under Julius Caesar, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.
When the cultural complex was built in the city, not all responses were welcoming among residents who expressed criticism at the beginning, saying it did not fit with the identity of the city. Such reaction, however, has completely evolved over the years, the director said.
“France is very centralized around Paris, and people here felt quite remote and somewhat overlooked,” he said. "So creating something of this level of excellence on an international scale makes a strong statement."
LUMA Arles emphasizes supporting artists in creating experimental works, including site-specific installations, and showcases a variety of exhibitions annually, having commissioned and presented the work of more than 100 artists, according to the institute.
Among its permanent installations is “Isometric Slides” by Carsten Holler, comprising two intertwined stainless-steel slides for visitors to experience.
Exhibitions with experimental approaches
The museum unveiled seven exhibitions simultaneously on Saturday, bringing together diverse artistic themes from Singapore's Ho Tzu Nyen, Egypt's Wael Shawky, Switzerland's Peter Fischli, Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets, American photographer David Armstrong, interdisciplinary studio EBB in collaboration with American artist Tony Oursler and South Korea's own Koo Jeong-a.
At Shawky’s exhibition “I Am Hymns of the New Temples,” a film at the center of the installation shows the story of a wandering Gaia from Greek mythology interpreted by the artist. The film expands into the space with glass and bronze sculptures, recreating the feel of the ancient city of Pompeii.
“Most of my work is involved with the history of the Middle East, and that was my first time ever I decided to work with the Greek mythology and study it to make this film,” the artist told the press Friday.
The works on view were created within a month while the artist stayed in Arles in a residency, including seven paintings — a new area of exploration for the artist — according to LUMA Arles.
As a visual artist and filmmaker, Ho showed the newly commissioned installation “Phantoms of Endless Day,” drawing materials from “Endless Day,” a film project that began in 2011 and had remained dormant since.
He used a series of artificial intelligence processes to edit and re-create the images and sounds from the original film.
Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, artistic director of LUMA Arles, referred to the work as “the future of creating images and producing stories and many narratives.”
“I don't think that I have necessarily completed the film I started 15 years ago, but it has developed into something new along with these new processes,” Ho said Friday.
Koo’s exhibition “Land of Ouss (Kangse)” brings together a major body of new and recent work spanning from 2007 to the present, featuring sculptures, an olfactory installation and a series of paintings as part of her everyday practices.
“It is very strong fluorescent colors which give a completely different experience here. It is really characteristic of the way Koo approaches architecture, but also the reality of seeing,” Oikonomopoulos said, entering the space glowing with pink fluorescence with the drawings on display.
An internationally recognized landscape architect, Smets presents a selection of three key projects that demonstrate how landscape architecture can respond to different challenges of the climate crisis, including the ongoing project to redevelop the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, with a focus on designing environments adapted to climate change.
“What we did here is we looked at all the elements to lower the temperature. We store rainwater, and on hot days, we could have a thin layer of water that will run on the plaza, cooling the air through evaporative cooling. The former parking garage will become a visitor center and will make a park 400 meters long, along the Seine,” he said.
The museum runs programs such as artist residencies that invite artists, curators and researchers as well as Atelier LUMA, the design research program dedicated to exploring new ways of using natural and renweable resources in design and architecture on a bioregional scale, according to LUMA Arles.
Copyright © 코리아헤럴드. 무단전재 및 재배포 금지.