PAST EXHIBITIONS

JESUS RAFAEL SOTO
PENETRABLE BBL BLEU

DECEMBER 7TH, 2018MAY 12TH, 2019

For its sixth exhibition within the framework of the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s “Hors-les-murs” programme, the Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo is pleased to present a specific installation by the late Jesús Rafael Soto: Pénétrable BBL Bleu. This programme has been showcasing unseen holdings from the Collection at the Espaces Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Venice, Munich and Beijing over these past three years, thus carrying out the Fondation’s intent to realize international projects and make them accessible to a broader public.

Jesús Rafael Soto was a Venezuelan artist who was best known for his kinetic sculptures and large scale installations. Born in 1923 in Ciudad Bolivar, Soto moved to Paris in 1950 where he would attach himself to post-war avant-garde modernism and become part of the abstract art circles. His participation in the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in 1951, followed by his involvement in the celebrated exhibition Le Mouvement at the Galerie Denise René in Paris in 1955 alongside Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder, and Victor Vasarely, bears witness to this commitment. By the late 1960s, Soto was known as a leader in kinetic art, with works that were remarkable for their illusions of sensory vibrations.

Dealing with pure abstraction, colour theory, and the dynamic between background and foreground, throughout his oeuvre Soto was consistently interested in the question of multiples and the possible modification of space through optical movement. His career was marked by several series of works: from the 1950s the artist was painting on plexiglass creating optical illusions; followed by the Ecritures (writings) series from 1963 where he began moving into physical experiments in three-dimensional spaces. The Vibracións (vibrations) series saw the beginning of Soto’s kinetic art works, which extended throughout the 1960s when he was using iron wire or hanging rods to create vibrations and sounds within the space. Finally, the well-known Pénétrable series began in 1967 and continued until the end of his career.
Each Pénétrable was created as an immersive installation consisting of volumes suspended in space, made of hundreds of thin vertical rods that the visitor is called upon to traverse. Referred to by the artist himself as a “revelation of sensitive space” he would continue to create many versions, featuring various sensations, sometimes including sound. From one series to the next, the “impression” of movement, generated by repetitions of shapes and colours, gave way to genuine optical illusions that increased the vibratory and dynamic impact of the works: moving from optical art into kinetic art and ultimately transforming the relationship between art and audience.

The Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo invites you to experience this emblematic work from the Collection: Pénétrable BBL Bleu (1999, ed. Avila 2007). Encompassing the entire exhibition space, Pénétrable BBL Bleu is an interactive work that invites and requires the observer to be involved – to walk through the work and be immersed in its kinetic and optical functions. Through his Pénétrable series, Soto effectively reminds us that space is never empty, and invites the visitor to experiment with the material in order to see the invisible.

About the Fondation Louis Vuitton

The Fondation Louis Vuitton serves the public interest and is exclusively dedicated to contemporary art and artists, as well as 20th century works to which their inspirations can be traced. The Collection and the exhibitions it organizes seek to engage a broad public. The magnificent building created by the Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and already recognized as an emblematic example of the 21st century architecture, constitutes the Fondation’s seminal artistic statement. Since its opening in October 2014, the Fondation has welcomed more than four million visitors from France and around the world.
The Fondation Louis Vuitton commits to engage in international initiatives, both at the Fondation and in partnership with public and private institutions, including other foundations and museums such as the Puschkin Museum in Moscow and the Heritage Museum in Saint-Petersburg (Icons of Modern Art: The Shchukin Collection), the MoMA in New York (Being Modern: MoMA in Paris), and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London among others. The artistic direction also developed a specific “Hors-les-murs” programme taking place within the Espaces Louis Vuitton in Beijing, Munich, Venice and Tokyo, which are exclusively devoted to exhibitions of works from the Collection. These exhibitions are open to the public free of charge and promoted through specific cultural communication.

ARTIST

SOTO IN THE *PETIT PENETRABLE*
Solo show: Soto, The Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, Croatia, 1970
Photo: MSU Zagreb Courtesy
© Adagp, Paris 2018.
© Archives Soto

Jesús Rafael Soto

Jesús Rafael Soto was born on June 5, 1923, in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela and died in Paris, France, in 2005. He studied at the Escuela de artes plasticas in Caracas from 1942 to 1947 and then served as director of the Escuela de bellas artes in Maracaibo, Venezuela, until 1950, at which time he relocated to Paris, while keeping a workshop in Caracas from 1975 onwards. in There he associated with Yaacov Agam, Jean Tinguely, and Victor Vasarely, as well as artists connected to Galerie Denise Rene and the Nouveaux Réalistes (New Realists). In 1955 Soto participated in Le Mouvement (The Movement) at Galerie Denise Rene in Paris, the exhibition that effectively launched Kinetic art. Around this time, and for many years subsequently, Soto’s art oscillated between geometric and organic forms. By 1957 Soto had moved toward a more gestural abstraction, but by 1965 he had returned definitively to a geometric idiom. During the same decade, he began making linear, kinetic constructions using industrial and synthetic materials such as nylon, Perspex, steel, and industrial paint, epitomized through the Pénétrable series of works.

Soto’s work has been celebrated in many major solo exhibitions around the world, including: Musee d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, France (1969); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA (1971); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA (1974); Contemporary Sculpture Center, Tokyo, Japan (1986); Museum of Modern Art, Kanagawa, and Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan (1990); Banque Bruxelles Lambert, Brussells, Belgium (1999); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (1979, 2013); and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas, USA (2014). Soto’s work has also been included in major group exhibitions including the 1963 Sao Paulo Biennale in Brazil; and the 1964 and 1966 Venice Biennales in Italy.