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January 9, 2019
Jesús Rafael Soto’s “Pénétrable BBL Bleu” Exhibition at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo | ART
ART | An Installation That Transforms the Relationship Between Artwork and Viewer
A Masterpiece by Jesús Rafael Soto, a Pioneer of Kinetic Art
“Pénétrable BBL Bleu” Unveiled at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo
Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo presents 《Pénétrable BBL Bleu》, an iconic work by Jesús Rafael Soto, an artist renowned for his kinetic sculptures and large-scale visual installations. This exhibition is the sixth installment of the “Hors-les-murs” (Beyond the Walls) program, showcasing works from the Fondation Louis Vuitton collection. The exhibition runs until Sunday, May 12, 2019.
Text by OZAKI Sayaka
An Immersive Installation That Challenges Perceptions of Invisible Space
Jesús Rafael Soto was born in Venezuela in 1923. After studying at the School of Fine Arts in Caracas, he moved to Paris in 1950.
In 1955, he participated in the “Le Mouvement” exhibition at Galerie Denise René alongside artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder, and Victor Vasarely. By the late 1960s, his works, characterized by their perception-altering optical illusions, had established him as a leading figure in kinetic art.
Throughout his oeuvre, Soto consistently explored the issues of multiples (industrially produced artworks) and the potential of transforming space through visual movement, all while expressing pure abstraction, color theory, and the forces at play between background and foreground.
SOTO IN A PENETRABLE Jesús Rafael Soto 1970 Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia (June-August 1970) ©Adagp, Paris 2018 ©Archives Solo
Each piece in Soto’s iconic 《Pénétrable》 series was conceived as an immersive installation. Composed of hundreds of thin, vertical rods suspended in space, these works—which Soto himself described as "manifestations of perceptible space"—have incorporated various sensory experiences, including sound (auditory perception), across their numerous iterations.
《Pénétrable BBL Bleu》, on display in this exhibition, allows visitors to walk through the artwork, experiencing the dynamic visual effects of the blue structure firsthand. The tactile encounter with the material will evoke a sense of the invisible, and a realization that space is far from empty.
© Adagp, Paris 2018. Photo by Jérémie Souteyrat / Louis Vuitton
Jesús Rafael Soto “Pénétrable BBL Bleu”
Until Sunday, May 12, 2019
Venue | Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo
Address | 7F, Louis Vuitton Omotesando Bldg., 5-7-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Opening Hours | 12:00–20:00
Closed | In accordance with Louis Vuitton Omotesando store