Art Inquiries
Abstract
In 1987, Luna Luna, a fairground/immersive art installation, opened in Hamburg, Germany. A decades-long project in the making, it was conceived and realized by André Heller, a Vienna-based avant-garde artist, musician, film-maker, and author favoring multimedia work including circuses, parades, variety shows, firework displays and poetic gardens. Over the course of three months, about 300,000 attendees traversed Heller’s Luna Luna’s exuberant space with performances, music, and rides on art works that took the form of Ferris wheels, carousals, infinity mirror rooms, puppet shows and other theatrics. The works were created by more than 30 artists including notable 20th-century figures Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dalí, Sonia Delaunay, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, and Kenny Scharf, as well as lesser-known artists such as Vienna-based Arik Brauer and Manfred Deix. A world tour was planned, but legal wranglings and financial difficulties shut it down. Disassembled, packed in 44 shipping crates, and stored for over three decades in Texas, the works of Luna Luna came to the attention of Michael Goldberg, creative director for Live Nation Entertainment, in 2019. After that, they were purchased by musician Drake, and his entertainment company DreamCrew supported the restoration and exhibition process under the consultation of curator Helen Mosworth and curatorial directors Kathy Noble followed by Lumi Tam.
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Recommended Citation
Stephenson, Jessica J.. "Review: Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy." 20, 1 (2025). https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/artinquiries_secacart/vol20/iss1/9
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