The Espaces Louis Vuitton Paris, Tokyo and Munich launch IN SITU – 1, a new residency and open studio program presenting the artists Andrea Bowers, Min-Jeong Seo, and Simryn Gill
IN SITU – 1 Espace culturel Louis Vuitton Paris Andrea Bowers June 4, 2014–January 4, 2015
Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo Min-Jeong Seo September 13, 2014–January 4, 2015
Espace Louis Vuitton München Simryn Gill September 18, 2014–January 18, 2015
On June 4, 2014, the Espace culturel Louis Vuitton in Paris will launch IN SITU – 1, the first edition of an unprecedented residency and open-studio program that will span three locations of the world-wide Espace network: Paris, Tokyo, and Munich. Each space has invited an international female artist to visit for a period of up to four months and receive carte blanche to produce new work in the gallery. During this time, the spaces will transform into open studios, and visitors can witness all stages of the creative process, from inspiration to fruition, and experience unique encounters with the artists.
IN SITU – 1 represents an exciting new initiative for the Espaces Louis Vuitton on various levels. Michael Burke, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, says: “A defined passion for creation has always been at the core of Louis Vuitton. We are excited to translate this into opportunities to share the experience of the creative process and witness how new work materializes.”
For the first edition, three female artists were chosen, continuing the house’s commitment to pay tribute to outstanding women in various creative disciplines. In Paris, the American artist Andrea Bowers will be given free rein. Tokyo will lend its Jun Aoki–designed space to the South Korean artist Min-Jeong Seo. And Munich will welcome the Malaysian artist Simryn Gill in the gallery’s upper and lower levels. For Seo and Gill, IN SITU – 1 constitutes their first major solo show in Japan and Germany, respectively. The three artists will work with a variety of media. All will literally start with a “blank page,” entirely free to chose how they transform and inhabit their respective Espace.
About Andrea Bowers Andrea Bowers was born in Wilmington, United States, in 1965, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Andrea Bowers has made herself known through a body of work championing civil rights causes: feminism, workers’ rights, global warming, AIDS. From performances to drawings, to photos, to installations, her multifaceted oeuvre is embodied by a complex network of forms and issues. #sweetjane, one of her most recent presentation was held at the Pitzer College Art Galleries and Pomona College Museum of Art in California. Her work was included in Art Public at Art Basel Miami (2011), and the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2011) and in several solo and groups exhibition.
About Simryn Gill Simryn Gill was born in Singapore in 1959 and lives and works in Sydney and Port Dickson, Malaysia. Her wide-ranging practice includes sculpture, photography, drawing and writing. She works from her immediate surroundings employing often modest materials and methods in making works which are attentive to place, provenance and local and personal experience in relation to the world. Her most recent solo presentation, Here art grows on trees, was held in the Australian Pavilion of the 55th Venice Biennale, curated by Catherine de Zegher. Her work was included in dOCUMENTA (12) and (13), Kassel, Germany (2007, 2012) and numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2014), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2013), the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago (2013), the Getty Center, Los Angeles (2011), the Center for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (2009), the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2008), and Tate Modern, London (2006).
About Min-Jeong Seo Min-Jeong Seo was born in 1972 in Busan, Korea and now lives and works in Berlin. Having majored in printmaking, ceramic, fine art, her all-round ability allows her to express herself with a varied range of materials and media from drawing, video, photography to sculpture and object, or installation. Moreover, her academic background and experience in her home country, in Japan and in Germany, give her transcultural and universal perspective. Her most recent work, Sum in a Point of Time-III, a huge installation made of polystyrene, presented at the Aichi Triennale 2013 - Nagoya, Japan, is still fresh in the viewer’s memory.
About the Espaces Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton has a long-standing and substantial history with the art world that ranges from bespoke commissions for stores and collaborations with artists on collections and windows to art talks and educational programs. The Espace concept, dedicated to the presentation of cultural and artistic expression, is the latest venture of this inspired association. The first Espace was inaugurated in 2006 in Paris. Additional spaces have since opened in Tokyo, Singapore, Venice, and, most recently, Munich. While the Espaces are tightly intertwined with their local contexts, they follow a shared mission to support emerging and established artists in developing new work, and to contribute to the discourse of contemporary art by presenting new curatorial encounters to the general public. All exhibitions and related events are free of charge.
About the Espace Louis Vuitton München The latest addition to the Espace network opened on March 29, 2014. With more than 320 square meters of space devoted to the arts, the Espace Louis Vuitton München will present several feature exhibitions and a related program of public events each year to encourage exchange between local and international artists, art professionals, collectors, and the public. A dedicated Young Audience Program kicks off in summer 2014, comprising interactive exhibition tours and creative artist-run workshops for nonprofit organizations and school groups.
Espace Louis Vuitton München Maximilianstraße 2a 80539 Munich www.espacelouisvuittonmuenchen.com (website available soon) Hours: Monday–Friday, noon to 7 pm Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm All exhibitions and related events are free of charge.
Currently on view at Espace Louis Vuitton München: No Such Thing as History: Four Collections and One Artist, March 29–August 8, 2014, presenting newly commissioned works by Annette Kelm and selected artworks from the ICC, Lorenz/Amandine Cornette de Saint Cyr, Mackert, and Wiese collections, curated by Jens Hoffmann.