ESPACE LOUIS VUITTON BEIJING: JEAN-MICHEL OTHONIEL DAZZLING TRILOGY

Images courtesy of Louis Vuitton

15 April to 6 September – An Immersive Exhibition Where Fragility Transforms into Radiant Beauty

Presented at Espace Louis Vuitton Beijing from 15 April to 6 September 2026, Jean-Michel Othoniel Dazzling Trilogy marks the 20th anniversary of the Espaces Louis Vuitton and the 10th anniversary of the Fondation Louis Vuitton Hors-les-murs programme.

JEAN-MICHEL OTHONIEL

The exhibition brings together a selection of installation works by French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel, highlighting his poetic exploration of glass, light, memory, and human fragility. Since discovering glass in 1996 after earlier experiments with photography, sulphur, and obsidian, Othoniel has made the material central to his artistic language. Working closely with artisans, the artist embraces the unpredictability of craftsmanship, allowing gesture, transformation, and chance to shape each work. Influenced by literature and the psychoanalytic theories of Jacques Lacan, Othoniel conceives exhibitions as immersive emotional landscapes where beauty and vulnerability coexist.

The exhibition features several significant works that reflect the breadth of his visual vocabulary. Lágrimas (2002) presents suspended glass bottles filled with water that shimmer like tears, evoking quiet spaces of contemplation. In Le Bateau de Larmes (2004), a small boat found on the shores of Miami is transformed into a luminous meditation on migration, loss, and hope through the addition of glowing glass beads.

Presented by Interni Cipta Selaras

The final gallery stages a dialogue between two monumental works. White Wild Lei (2009), inspired by the Hawaiian tradition of welcoming strangers with flower garlands, takes the form of a monumental necklace that recalls sacred symbolism and remembrance. Alongside it, Rivière Rose (2026), a site-specific installation created for the exhibition, flows across the floor as a radiant river of hand-cast pink glass bricks.

The works at the exhibition create a contemplative environment shaped by light, colour, and movement — a reflection of Othoniel’s enduring vision of beauty as both poetic and protective.