Art of Haring, Dali among lost works celebrated in amusement park revived after 35 years in storage
For nearly 35 years, a one-of-a-kind art show was locked away in shipping containers and never viewed in the way its creators intended.
But through an effort spearheaded by a group of artists and backed by a major hip-hop star, an interactive amusement park filled with unique pieces has been brought back into action for today's audience.
"I think we get to kind of focus on the art and see the amusement in it," Autumn Beck, the collection manager for Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy, told ABC News.
The idea behind the Los Angeles-based exhibit, which closes May 12, was to accomplish the dream of Austrian showman Andre Heller, who envisioned a traveling carnivalesque art show.
When the original Luna Luna opened in Hamburg, Germany, in 1987, it featured themed pieces such as a Ferris Wheel designed by graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, a carousel featuring pop artist Keith Haring’s iconic figures, a geodesic dome with a mirrored interior created by Salvador Dali and a swing ride spray-painted by California street artist Kenny Scharf.
After a six-week run, the art exhibits were put into storage and never seen for decades.
"It was meant to go on tour, but as some of the biggest dreams do, it got caught up in I'm sure logistics and contracts and things just moving it around," Beck said.
Two years ago, the crates containing the Luna Luna pieces were purchased by DreamCrew, an entertainment firm run by several artists including hip-hop singer Drake. The crates were shipped to Los Angeles with the intent of putting them on display again.
Beck said she was amazed when she first went in and saw the pieces.
"They are priceless because there's not another one that exists," she said. "These are absolutely unique, one-of-a-kind pieces. The hand of an artist that's no longer here."
But putting the pieces back together and installing them inside a Los Angeles warehouse was no small feat, according to Beck.
There were no instructions on how to reassemble the carnival rides, so the show's crew had to turn to archival material and use their ingenuity, she said.
"We had a team of about 10 people who thoroughly looked at plans, who looked at the photography…in some of these like archival photographs, [and] look through the plans [that] are all in German," Beck said. "They were professionals."
The current exhibit doesn't allow people to ride any of the attractions, such as the Ferris wheel, but they are allowed to see them in action inside the exhibit.
Beck said that Drake's firm was crucial in making the show a success and bringing the lost show to life for a whole new audience.
"Putting on a production like this is no small feat," she said. "And I think that Drake and, along with all the other partners are involved in the arts and culture, of which this stands kind of in the center of that. So [it's] a huge influence in the sense of like, let's accomplish something amazing, and that's what we're trying to do."
