A once-forgotten art amusement park featuring installations by famous artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dalí, Keith Haring and Roy Lichtenstein, will open at Atlanta’s Pullman Yards on Sept. 24.
“Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy” is a colorful art carnival born from the wild imagination of Austrian artist and impresario André Heller.
Heller conceptualized the whimsical exhibition in the late 1970s, then spent 10 years traveling around the globe determined to recruit the world’s most famous artists to craft carousels, Ferris wheels, swing rides, fun houses and other immersive installations. Heller secured the participation of more than 30 surrealist, pop art and abstract artists who agreed to make works for the fair.
“Luna Luna” premiered in Hamburg, Germany, in 1987 before the Berlin Wall fell.
Credit: Photo by Sabina Sarnitz courtesy of Luna Luna
Credit: Photo by Sabina Sarnitz courtesy of Luna Luna
After the event, the artworks were packed away in shipping containers and largely forgotten for more than three decades.
In 2019, Michael Goldberg, now the chief creative officer and co-founder of “Luna Luna,” was running a creative agency in New York when he stumbled upon an obscure article a co-worker sent him about “Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy.”
“I couldn’t believe I never heard of it,” he said. “I just thought it was the greatest idea of having some of the greatest artists design rides, games and attractions.”
He was shocked that he could only find two articles about it online.
“It didn’t make sense,” he said. “I thought there would be 10,000. … It was so odd, being that you have some of the greatest artists of the time contributing works.”
An obsession grew.
Over three years, Goldberg tracked down Heller’s lost treasures. He presented “Luna Luna” to rapper Drake and his partners at creative studio DreamCrew. In 2022, DreamCrew purchased the contents of the original exhibition and vowed to restore its grandeur.
Credit: Brian Ferry, Co
Credit: Brian Ferry, Co
Since purchasing “Luna Luna,” DreamCrew has resurrected the artworks and reinvigorated the multisensory experience with new music by André 3000, David Byrne, Jamie XX, Philip Glass and Saya Gray.
Atlanta will be the third city to host “Luna Luna,” with the carnival having already stopped in Los Angeles and New York.
“We felt that Atlanta, with its deep ties and relevance in entertainment and music, was a great fit,” Goldberg said. “Then finding a great venue in Pullman Yards … it’s an ideal venue.”
Maureen Meulen, co-founder of Pullman Yards, is excited to expose Atlanta audiences to works by some of the great masters of pop, abstract and surrealist art.
“Typically you would go to a museum to see these kinds of works of art,” she said. “I think being able to present them in a more relaxed environment that is more appealing and potentially more attractive to different groups of people … is part of what makes it so fun.”
Credit: Photo: © Sabina Sarnitz. Courtesy of Luna Luna
Credit: Photo: © Sabina Sarnitz. Courtesy of Luna Luna
Some highlights of the amusement park include: Basquiat’s towering Ferris wheel; Dalí’s mirrored infinity “Dalídom”; Lichtenstein’s labyrinth; Kenny Scharf’s Technicolor swing ride; Poncilí Creación’s PoncilíLand; and Heller’s wedding chapel.
A six-part podcast that premiered in March tells the story of “Luna Luna’s” disappearance and revival. Hosted by art historian Helen Molesworth, the podcast is available on most major streaming platforms.
Further details on programming, new collaborations and special events to take place at “Luna Luna” will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets go on sale today at lunaluna.com.
IF YOU GO
“Luna Luna.” Opening Sept. 24. Pullman Yards, 225 Rogers St. NE, Atlanta. lunaluna.com
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