FONDATION VASARELY - Exhibition: KAZYS VARNELIS + permanent collections

From  June 16th to october 15th, 2024 :
Kazys Varnelis (1917-2010) was the promoter of the Art Deco aesthetic in Lithuania and one of the country's most influential monumental and professional stained glass painters.
In 1951 he painted his very first abstract picture, and from 1963 concentrated on his own career as an abstract painter.
From 1967 onwards, Varnelis exhibited his optical art compositions in various shows throughout the United States, earning him immediate recognition from the Chicago art scene.
In the field of interior design, he is known for mixing historic furniture with contemporary works of art.
When Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, Varnelis considered returning to his homeland. Varnelis set about transforming the historic 14th-century buildings into an art collector's first private museum, until his death in 2010.
Today, his legacy is an important chapter in the history of modern Lithuanian art, which continues to inspire other contemporary artists.
The Varnelis collection is housed in the Kazys Varnelis House Museum at the National Museum of Lithuania.

Inaugurated in 1976, the architectonic center of Aix-en-Provence reflects the essence of Vasarely’s mission. Designed as a place of exchange, experiments and new encounters, this multi-disciplinary “laboratory” would bring together plastic arts, architecture, new technologies, chemistry, and other disciplines. The ““polychromatic city of happiness” was born.

Designed by Vasarely in collaboration with architects Jean Sonnier, Dominique Ronsseray and Claude Pradel-Lebar, the 5,000 sq. meter building is an example of the very same urban design which the Foundation seeks to promote.

Sixteen hexagon-based modules are embedded in a gigantic building using technology and materials endorsed by modern art movements. The honeycomb structure presents various models of the integration of plastic arts and architecture, using optical art as its common ground.

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