Jesus Rafael Soto “Pénétrable BBL Bleu”

Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo

Finished

Artists

Jesus Rafael Soto

For its sixth exhibition of the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s “Hors-les-murs” programme, Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo presents a site-specific installation by the late Jesus Rafael Soto: “Pénétrable BBL Bleu.” Jesús Rafael Soto was a Venezuelan artist who was best known for his kinetic sculptures and large-scale optical installations. Very early on, he attached himself to post-war avant-garde modernism and became 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.

The Pénétrable series began in 1967 and continued until the end of Soto’s 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. 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.

Schedule

Dec 7 (Fri) 2018-May 12 (Sun) 2019