Open Space #5 Lauren Halsey

Open Space is a programme dedicated to the most contemporary artistic expressions. National and international artists are invited to create a specific project for the Fondation. Open Space takes place regularly in different settings around Frank Gehry’s building.

For Open Space #5, the Fondation welcomes the African-American Los Angeles-based artist Lauren Halsey (1987-USA) for her first solo exhibition in Europe.

Drawing inspiration from history, through Ancient Egypt to contemporary America, from personal and collective memory, and from popular culture across funk, hip-hop, Afro-futurism, science-fiction and more, Halsey’s artistic practice is situated on the boundaries between architecture, painting and sculpture. Her immersive installations, both temporary and permanent, are sited in public and institutional spaces and are always rooted in the specific context of her home city, Los Angeles. Deeply engaged with the area where she was born and grew up, Halsey works on, in response to and in collaboration with the communities in the southern neighbourhoods of the city. She explores social issues of class, origins, identity and demographics, and their impact on a perpetually evolving urban environment. 

For Open Space #5, Halsey has created a new installation made up of geological modules –Funk Mound–. These heaps in different shapes and sizes contain altars made up of disparate elements (new, found, recycled) that belong to African-American culture.