Sandra‘s Closet

At this year’s Paris+ par Art Basel, Louis Vuitton continues its longstanding commitment to the arts by exhibiting and showcasing a curated selection of creative collaborations and original artworks from leading international artists. The Maison is also revealing wave five of the Artycapucines collection.

The Louis Vuitton booth for Paris+ par Art Basel 2023, which runs from 20-22 October at the Grand Palais Éphémère, has been designed to resemble an oversized Louis Vuitton trunk. The exterior of the booth is inspired by the Copper Malle Courrier by Pharrell Williams, which was presented on the runway for his debut Louis Vuitton menswear collection, for S/S 2024. The booth’s interior walls feature the iconic malletage pattern, the refined crisscrossing motif that has padded the inside of the Maison’s trunks since Louis Vuitton founded his business in 1854. The booth is the perfect showcase for an exhibition of curated works by an ensemble of world-renowned artists, including collaborations on bags and canvas by Takashi Murakami; reworked, unique travel trunks by Damien Hirst; and Stephen Sprouse‘s Roses Monogram Alma bag.

Other original artworks on show include three paintings by Richard Prince; one by Takashi Murakami; a circular portrait of a young Louis Vuitton by Yan Pei-Ming; and an AI-data painting entitled Finding LV by Refik Anadol. Also included are seven new works by Yayoi Kusama, exhibited for the first time, each entitled Every Day I Pray for Love. The phrase has featured on the back of Kusama’s recent paintings, including this new series, which was begun in 2022 during the conception of the artist’s latest collaboration with Louis Vuitton.

At Paris+ par Art Basel, the Maison will also reveal five additions to its now iconic Artycapucines Collection. Since 2019, the collection has seen leading international artists – including Daniel Buren, Urs Fischer, Donna Huanca, Vik Muniz, Park Seo-Bo, Tschabalala Self, Kennedy Yanko, and Zhao Zhao – bring their unique creative visions to the blank canvas offered by the Capucines bag’s modern classic design. The five new bags on display at Paris+ par Art Basel are by Ewa Juszkiewicz, Liza Lou, Tursic & Mille, Ziping Wang, and Billie Zangewa, and reveal the ingenious creativity of their artist designers and the creative ingenuity of Louis Vuitton’s artisans who turned those visions into reality.

In 2023, following its successful presence at last year’s inaugural Paris+ par Art Basel, Louis Vuitton is now proud to become a global Associate Partner of Art Basel.
This additional support further confirms the Maison’s close and committed relationship to the arts, one that started nearly a century ago when Gaston-Louis Vuitton, the founder’s grandson, began commissioning artists to collaborate with Louis Vuitton on advertisements and perfume bottles.

Since 1988, Louis Vuitton has continued this legacy by collaborating with some of the biggest names in modern art and design, including Sol LeWitt, James Rosenquist, Cesar, and Olafur Eliasson. It has curated exhibitions by artists such as Sophie Calle,Dan Flavin, Alberto Giacometti and Gerhard Richter in its Espaces Louis Vuitton around the world (Tokyo, Munich, Venice, Beijing, Seoul and Osaka), and has more recently created innovative large-scale global art projects, such as the 2022 collaboration with Yayoi Kusama that included giant statues of the artist in Paris and London, an anamorphic billboard in Tokyo, and a capsule collection of bags, shoes, accessories, luggage, and fragrances. In 2014, the Maison opened the landmark Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, which further strengthened its continuing mission to bring the best modern and contemporary art to new audiences.

Louis Vuitton will present during Paris+ par Art Basel, which runs 20 – 22 October 2023 at the Grand Palais Éphémère, 2 Place Joffre, 75007 Paris, France.
From 13 October, the Louis Vuitton City Guide app will feature a new Contemporary Art «flânerie» – or stroll route – which will include a stop at Paris+ par Art Basel.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton
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Louis Vuitton has teamed up with acclaimed Swiss contemporary artist Urs Fischer on a multifaceted collaboration that highlights his playfully audacious creative vision across a wide range of leather goods, ready-to-wear, shoes and accessories.

Entitled «Louis Vuitton x Urs Fischer», Urs Fischer’s exuberant and textured reworking of Louis Vuitton’s signature Monogram is the starting point of this collection which features the Monogram’s flowers and LV initials in new hand-drawn versions that he calls «memory sketches». The resulting dream-like motifs have been meticulously adapted to suit each specific product across this comprehensive collection, changing in size, perspective, colour and application technique.

Available in two colourways, black and red and black and white, this new Monogram is the collaboration’s key decorative motif, and features throughout the collection’s designs. In addition to ready-to-wear, accessories and shoes, seven special-edition bags – a Keepall, Cabas, Onthego, two Neverfulls, Speedys, Pochettes Accessoires, and a charming, hard-sided beauty case – use the Urs Fischer Monogram to particularly impressive effect thanks to an exquisite tuffetage treatment that uses velvet-like material to create extra texture and tactile relief.

The collaboration also features a series of whimsical characters created by Urs Fischer. The enchanting animals and objects are united in a playful print that fills a colourful silk square.

«Louis Vuitton x Urs Fischer» is both a perfect, large-scale showcase for Urs Fischer’s creative world and the latest exciting chapter in Louis Vuitton’s longstanding commitment to the arts. The collection will launch in Louis Vuitton stores worldwide in January 2021. For more information, click here please.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton / Pierre-Ange Carlotti