Fondation Beyeler’s 'What Time Is Heaven?' Show Is in Constant Transformation
Highlighting works by Arthur Jafa, Fujiko Nakaya, Michael Armitage and more.
Fondation Beyeler has set the stage for an unprecedented transformation with its latest exhibition, ‘What Time is Heaven?’—a dynamic, ever-changing display that pushes the boundaries of contemporary art. For the first time in its 25-year history, the museum and its surrounding park will become a living artwork that evolves over time, featuring an impressive lineup of artists including Michael Armitage, Anne Boyer, Federico Campagna, and Ian Cheng.
Key highlights include Philippe Parreno’s “Membrane 2” (2024), a towering, techno-futuristic totem in the garden that reacts to its surroundings with elaborate technological effects. Fujiko Nakaya’s fog sculptures, which have enchanted viewers since the ’60s, create a hauntingly soft atmosphere that turns the museum into a ghostly realm. Inside, Rachel Rose’s “What Time Is Heaven” (2024), featuring photographs of the Fondation’s empty rooms, and Pierre Huyghe’s helmet-like sculptures appear and disappear, contributing to a constantly shifting stage set.
Adrián Villar Rojas’s dystopian pieces, “The End of Imagination VI” and “The End of Imagination VII” (both 2024), transform everyday objects into alien-like structures reminiscent of early Cronenberg films. Arthur Jafa’s film “LOML” (2022), a minimal, grainy tribute to the late cultural critic Greg Tate, and Cyprien Gaillard’s “Retinal Rivalry” (2024), with its powerful 3D visuals, stand out for their innovative use of film and technology.
Organized in collaboration with the LUMA Foundation and conceived by a team including Sam Keller, Mouna Mekouar, Isabela Mora, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Precious Okoyomon, Philippe Parreno, and Tino Sehgal, ‘What Time is Heaven?’ offers an evolving spectacle rather than a static collection that is now on view through August 11, 2024.
Fondation Beyeler
Baselstrasse 101
4125 Riehen
Switzerland
