The Canadian Rapper and mogul Drake not only makes cakes (lol) but he buys whole art amusement parks and sends them on tour. So here out of suspended animation in a warehouse in Texas comes “Luna Luna” the long ago wunder project of Austrian artist Andre Holler. Holler who first opened his multi-artist amusement park art carnival in Hamburg, West Germany in 1987 has presently lived to see lt in a new incarnation.
So now in the alley of incongruent yet complementary shapes known as the architectural jigsaw puzzle of Hudson Yards it is as if a series of Rubik’s Cubes by famed plasticien creators have been crane lifted and dropped into and placed in the moveable shifting venue called “The Shed”.
One of the standout pieces is Keith Haring’s vibrant carousel, featuring his signature figures in carved life-size form. The artist therein was so excited about the endeavor that he traveled to Germany to create this work for the project.
Roy Lichtenstein created a mirrored maze funhouse which although it was not open to the public in Los Angeles, is at Hudson Yards.
Holler caught many of these artists at the end of their careers and some like Scharf. Basquiat, and Haring at the beginning (and with the latter two unfortunately also the end).
Many of the pieces have now become too valuable to ride while others like Salvador Dali’s geodesic dome mirrored in the interior are immersive experiences to be entered.
The revival of Luna Luna like any recreation or retrospective is as if an underground journey to the city of nostalgia. Here as one drifts through the spectacle’s newfound campus, they are also treated to a range of performances, including dancing costume elephants plus a dramatic upstairs overlook.
Some of the rides are intermittently illuminated and set in motion and as if in a dream flashback in clown thriller movie.
Meanwhile it is said that as new works have been commissioned for this tour there will be an ongoing process whereby new entries will enter the exhibit from artists to be brought aboard as time goes on
Luna Luna is open to the public at Hudson Yards until mid March.
