New Yorkers who fancy a twist on traditional art exhibitions can now experience "Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy," a blast from the past as it makes its grand entrance in The Shed at Hudson Yards. Combining pop art with the nostalgic allure of an amusement park, this exhibition resurrects a project originally created in the 1980s by artist André Heller and features contributions from iconic names such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Salvador Dalí. According to a report by ABC7 New York, the traveling show was envisioned to make high art thoroughly accessible by merging it with a format familiar to all: the funfair.
"Luna Luna" had its first go-around in Germany during the '80s, but after a brief eight-week stint, the show hit a wall, failing to garner necessary financial support and spiraling into a 17-year legal tangle that ultimately sent the pieces into hibernation in a Viennese warehouse. As NBC News covered the story, the artworks were unexpectedly rediscovered and, in a quirky turn of events, were shipped to a ranch in Texas with no clear future. "They had no idea of what to do with them at this point, so they sent it to a ranch in Texas," "Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy" CEO Anthony Gonzalez told ABC7 New York.
However, Gonzalez and his team saw a glimmer of hope and managed to acquire the containers with all the elements in 2022, surprisingly finding the arts in stellar shape. "Thank god everything was in incredible condition," Gonzalez revealed in an interview with ABC7 New York. The crew took painstaking measures to maintain the integrity of the pieces, so much so that Keith Haring's custom carousel, heralding from the Big Apple itself, has been rendered strictly off-limits due to its age and value.
Art aficionados and history buffs alike have until early January to steep themselves in this unique cultural revival. Allowing the public to freshly to rediscover these once-hidden gems, "Luna Luna" operates under the philosophy of fusing art into everyday life—in the most whimsical of ways. Gonzales underscored this mission, noting, "He wanted to bring art in the most accessible way with something so familiar to people," in his remarks to ABC7 New York. So step right up, New York: "Luna Luna" is here to reintroduce the wonder of art blended seamlessly with the joy of an amusement park.
