Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo in Omotesando, Tokyo, will be exhibiting the installation "Pénétrable BBL Bleu" by the late artist Jesús Rafael Soto from December 7th to May 12th, 2019.


This exhibition marks the sixth installment of the Fondation Louis Vuitton's "Hors-les-murs" (Beyond the Walls) program. Over the past three years, the program has presented previously unseen collections at Espace Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Venice, Munich, and Beijing. These exhibitions have fulfilled the Foundation's intention to make its work accessible to a wide public through international projects.

Soto is a Venezuelan artist best known for his kinetic sculptures and large-scale visual installations. Born in Ciudad Bolívar in 1923, he spent his formative years in Venezuela. He moved to Paris in 1950 and lived there until the end of his life, maintaining a studio in Caracas from 1975.

He became interested in postwar avant-garde modernism early on and became a part of the abstract art world. His participation in the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in 1951 and his involvement in the 1955 exhibition "Le Mouvement" (The Movement) at the Galerie Denise Renée alongside Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder, and Victor Vasarely demonstrate his commitment to abstract art.


In the late 1960s, Soto established himself as a leading figure in kinetic art, with works characterized by perceptual illusionism. While all of his work explores pure abstraction, color theory, and the forces at play between background and foreground, he consistently explored the issue of multiples and the potential for transforming space through visual movement.

His career is characterized by several series. Starting in the 1950s, he created optical illusions using paintings on Plexiglas, then, beginning in 1963, transitioned to physical experiments in three-dimensional space with his "Ecritures" (Written Marks) series. His early kinetic art works, the "Vibracións" (Vibrations) series, continued throughout the 1960s and used wire and hanging rods to create vibrations and sounds in space. His famous "Pénétrable" (Penetrable) series began in 1967 and continued until the end of his career.


Each work in the "Pénétrable" series was created as an immersive installation. The work is comprised of hundreds of thin, vertical rods suspended in space, creating an assemblage that invites viewers to permeate it. Described by Soto himself as a "manifestation of perceptible space," he incorporated various sensory experiences, including sound, into his numerous iterations. The "impression" of movement, created by the repetition of shapes and colors in each work, gives way to a true optical illusion, which heightens the work's vibratory, kinetic impact. The transition from Op Art to Kinetic Art ultimately transformed the relationship between art and the viewer. The iconic work "Pénétrable BBL Bleu" (1999, ed. Avila 2007), from the Fondation Louis Vuitton collection, is presented for this exhibition, and visitors are invited to participate rather than simply observe. By passing through the work, they are immersed in its dynamic, visual effects. Through his "Pénétrable" series, Soto reminds us that space is not an empty place. By actually touching the materials, he offers an experience that allows us to sense what cannot be seen.