THE COLLECTION: A Sports Meeting
Jean-Michel Basquiat & Andy Warhol Olympic Rings, 1985 Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 208 x 466 cm Collection Éditions Enrico Navarra © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York © 2024 - The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by ADAGP, Paris Photo: © Fondation Louis Vuitton / David Bordes
In recognition of the Olympic flame’s passage through the Fondation, the Louis Vuitton building opened on May 4th and will be on view until the 9th of September 2024.
Select works from our Collection will be displayed on the second level, with creations from five international artists united in Galleries 9 through 11. The depth and breadth of these œuvres provide an uncommon, poetic perspective on the theme of sports.
Abraham Poincheval Walk on Cloud, 2019 [Marche sur les nuages] Digital video, color, sound, 14 min 05 s Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris © Andreas Gursky / Courtesy Sprüth Magers / ADAGP, 2024
In Gallery 9 is the spectacular installation Walk on Clouds, 2019, by Abraham Poincheval (b. 1972) showing the artist strolling across a cloud canopy. Seeming to hang in thin air, he is actually supported by a hot-air balloon fitted with drones, making it possible for him to be filmed. The video is the product of this performance, one that demanded the artist’s total commitment of mind and body - and such risk-taking that this “walk” appears to be as much an athletic feat as a dream.
Andreas Gursky Engadin, 1995 Chromogenic Print 186 x 291 cm Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris ©ADAGP, Paris 2024
In the photo Engadin, 1995 by Andreas Gursky (b. 1955), grandiose Swiss peaks are surrounded by an intensely blue sky, creating a sublime, panoramic vision. Humankind - represented by a slender strand of cross-country skiers rendered miniscule by contrast - all but disappears before the power of nature and only seems to exist in man’s determination to challenge the elements.
Gallery 11 holds the installation by Roman Signer (b. 1938), Installation mit Kajaks (“Installation with Kayak”) from 2003, featuring a kayak, an important element of the artist’s visual vocabulary since the late 1980s. This vessel, usually symbolic of movement and speed, is deprived of all utility by being suspended from the ceiling, but thereby also acquires the status of sculpture, showcasing its streamlined beauty.
Omar Victor Diop Diaspora, 2014-2015 Inkjet prints 60 x 40 / 60 x 60 cm chaque (x18) [Albert Badin, 2014 ; Kwasi Boakye, 2014 ; Dom Nicolau, 2014 ; Olaudah Equiano, 2014 ; Juan de Pareja, 2014 ; Jean-Baptiste Belley, 2014 ; Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, 2014 ; Angelo Soliman, 2014 ; August Sabac El Cher, 2014 ; St Bénédicte de Palerme, 2014 ; Don Miguel De Castro, 2014 ; El Moro, 2014 ; Pedro Camejo, 2015 ; Omar Ibn Saïd, 2015 ; Malick Ambar, 2015 ; Ikhlas Khan, 2015 ; Henrique Dias, 2015 ; Frédérick Douglass, 2015], 2014-2015 Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris © Omar Victor Diop
The work of Omar Victor Diop (b. 1980), Diaspora, resembles a portrait gallery of African figures from the 16th to the 19th centuries, all of whom played an important role outside their home continent. It is, in fact, the artist - costumed and staged - who embodies them all in a sweeping history of the genre, from Mughal miniatures to European court portraits. A red card, a ball, goalie gloves, a whistle: a number of unexpected accessories, symbolic items from the sports world, disrupt the seemingly traditional portrayal of these figures.
Jean-Michel Basquiat Napoleonic Stereotype Circa 44, 1983 Acrylic, oil, and pencil on canvas 167.6 x 152.4 cm Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat Licensed by Artestar, New York Photo: © Fondation Louis Vuitton / Marc Domage
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s desire to bring the “invisible man” into existence and his fascination with heroes are recurrent themes in his works. Boxers like Sugar Ray Robinson and Mohammad Ali feature in this artistic pantheon. Napoleonic Stereotype Circa 44 (1983) is a nod to another boxer, Joe Louis, whose hitherto victorious career was tarnished by a highly symbolic defeat in 1936 against Max Schmeling, who fought on behalf of Nazi Germany.
The official emblem of the Olympic Games - five circles representing the five continents - served as a motif for Warhol, who collaborated with Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) to produce several works on this theme. In 1985’s Olympic Rings, the geometric acronym of the rings is painted by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) in his consummate style, while Basquiat’s striking contribution is a black, mask-like face in the composition’s centre. This work, on loan from the Éditions Enrico Navarra collection, was a highlight of the 2023 Basquiat x Warhol. Painting Four Hands exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, and the loan has been generously extended to celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024.
This project has been labeled by Paris 2024 as part of the Olympiade Culturelle.
For more information about this exhibition and the Louis Vuitton Fondation please visit their site here or on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
