''Luna Luna'' was an

open-air museum An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings" ...

and

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

that ran from June 4 to August 31, 1987; it was rediscovered and relaunched as a touring exhibition in 2023. Curated by Austrian artist

André Heller Franz André Heller (; born 22 March 1947 as Francis Charles Georges Jean André Heller-Hueart) is an Austrian artist, author, poet, singer, songwriter, and actor. Biography Heller was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family of sweets manuf ...

, it was an attempt to "create a travelling terrain of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

, that in the centuries-old principle of the fairground involves people of all ages and educational levels in playful acts". Heller commissioned around 30 contemporary artists to design the attractions, including

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...

Kenny Scharf Kenny Scharf (born November 23, 1958) is an American painter known for his participation in New York City's interdisciplinary East Village art scene during the 1980s, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Scharf's do-it-yourself pract ...

Roland Topor Roland Topor (7 January 1938 – 16 April 1997) was a French illustrator, cartoonist, comics artist, painter, novelist, playwright, film and TV writer, filmmaker and actor, who was known for the surrealism, surreal nature of his work. He was of Po ...

Jean Tinguely Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century.Chilvers, Ian; Gl ...

, and

Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (; 14 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist born to Jewish parents, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in the Russian Empire, now Ukraine, and was formally trained in Russia and Germany, be ...

. After decades in storage, the works were restored and new works were commissioned for ''Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy'', which embarked on a global tour in 2023 with funding from DreamCrew.

Formation

In the mid-1980s, André Heller began to recruit artists for his project ''Luna Luna'', an

designed by the "most important artists of the period". Heller received a $500,000 grant from the magazine ''Neue Revue''. Heller turned down an offer from

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

to buy into the project, saying "we don't want to set up a

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

". He collaborated with 32 artists for a project that was described by ''Life'' magazine as the "most dizzying, dazzling art show on Earth". Heller paid the artists $10,000 each, stating that the reason why all those renowned artists participated for so little money was because he told them: "Listen, you are constantly getting the greatest commissions, everyone wants your paintings or sculptures, but I am inviting you to take a trip back to your own childhood. You can design your very own amusement park, just as you think would be right today, and really without exception everyone answered by saying, sure, that's a nice pleasant challenge." While some of the artists traveled to West Germany for the project, others sent their designs to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where a specialist team of technicians and theater painters, carpenters and architects carried out the work. There were around 30 attractions, which included a walk-in "shadow room" by

Georg Baselitz Georg Baselitz (born 23 January 1938) is a German Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor and Graphic arts, graphic artist. In the 1960s he became well known for his Figurative art, figurative, expressive paintings. In 1969 he began painting his ...

, a musical "enchanted tree" by David Hockney, and boldly colored glass

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

by Roy Lichtenstein. Keith Haring designed a

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

, with the seats in the shape of cartoon characters, and painted the whole thing with his icons and symbols. Jean-Michel Basquiat designed a

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondola ...

composed of his various drawings, which prominently featured the rear-end of a baboon. Kenny Scharf created six comic sculptures and painted more than 100 individual pictures in a Viennese workshop, which were mounted around a brightly colored swing carousel. Other attractions included a Sonia Delaunay-designed entrance gate, Salvador Dalí's "reflective pavilion" and a hand painted circus wagon by

August Walla August Walla (1936–2001) was an Austrian outsider artist. Career Walla grew up as an only child with his mother and grandmother. His mother dressed and educated him as a girl, to prevent him from becoming a soldier. Walla later declared that he ...

. Each attraction had its own individual music.

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

composed the music for Lichtenstein's glass labyrinth. Karajan recorded a CD with the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

for Hockney's room. Basquiat chose the album '' Tutu'' by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

. As a tribute to

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...

, who died in January 1986, Heller had a manifesto drawn up that the artist had authorized a few years prior. Heller also contributed some works. In addition to the "wedding pavilion" and a "head-through-the-wall booth", he had a blue-red "dream station" built as a coffee house. Reportedly,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

also wanted to take part, but other American artists objected. Warhol, who died in February 1987, was memorialized with a booth where visitors were allowed—based on Warhol's credo

15 minutes of fame 15 minutes of fame is short-lived media publicity or celebrity of an individual or phenomenon. The expression was inspired by a quotation misattributed to Andy Warhol: "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." Attributed to ...

—to be photographed next to life-size pictures of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

Exhibition catalog

In 1987, Heller released the book ''Luna Luna'', published by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag in Munich, which features all of the attractions. For the book cover, Heller asked the participating artists to draw a moon and add a sentence they found fitting. In 2023, the book was re-released by Phaidon in its first English translation, titled ''Luna Luna: The Art Amusement Park'', with an updated preface by Heller.

Exhibition venues

''Luna Luna'' was initially only displayed once at the Moorweide in Hamburg from June 4 to August 31, 1987. The entry fee was 20

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

s (children free on weekdays). The attendance was 300,000 in three months. The exhibition had been expected to travel to the Netherlands later in 1987 and then the United States in 1988. In 1991, ''Luna Luna'', was to be temporarily installed at Balboa Park's Inspiration Point in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. The eighteen month-long run was to be a gift from the Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation, based in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. Ensuing litigation due to a claimed breach of contract prevented ''Luna Luna'' from being exhibited. The entire exhibit was packed into 44 shipping containers and stored on a desert ranch in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In 2022, ''Luna Luna'' was revived for a global tour by Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

and his entertainment firm DreamCrew with production assistance from

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational Entertainment industry, entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Live Nation (events promoter), Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It ...

. The show, ''Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy'', includes original rides, games, and attractions. About half of the 30 attractions designed by the original artists were displayed. The original rides could not be ridden due to modern safety concerns. Several of the displays available for viewing during the latest staging of the show required an additional entry fee for access. The revived exhibition opened in December 2023 and ran through spring 2024 in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of

downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

within a warehouse space. From November 20, 2024 through March 16, 2025, 13 displays from the exhibition have been installed in The Shed at Hudson Yards in Manhattan, New York City.

Formation

Exhibition catalog

Exhibition venues

References

Further reading