French artist Xavier Veilhan (opens in new tab) continues his multi-venue 'Architectones,' installing site-specific work in notable works of architecture around the world. After interventions at Richard Neutra's VDL House (opens in new tab) and Pierre Koenig (opens in new tab)'s Case Study House No 21, Veilhan (opens in new tab) now opens the doors to John Lautner's Sheats-Goldstein House, giving the public a rare opportunity to view a private home recast as an art piece.
Unlike the more domestic atmosphere of the VDL House, Veilhan says the Sheats-Goldstein 'is almost like a prop. It's so related to moviemaking and also it's so spectacular.' The home has been the backdrop of movies such as The Big Lebowski and Charlie's Angels, as well as the subject of countless photo shoots. Rather than overpower this already striking space, Veilhan instead intervenes with subtlety.
Perched atop canyons in Los Angeles, the Sheats-Goldstein is arresting with a dramatic, coffered ceiling living room that radiates out to the horizon as a majestic triangular overhang. Veilhan takes the strong geometric roofline and connects it to the pool below by stretching cords from the roof to the pool's perimeter below, creating one of his signature 'Rays' structures.
In the master's bedroom below, Veilhan places a prismatic bright green aluminum sculpture of the tall and commanding Lautner looking out over a precipice, recreating a historical photograph taken of the architect and his creation and giving it a bold, new flavour.
Smaller pieces can be found throughout the home. A bronze miniature of the architect, the homeowner and his dog is a nod to the home's history. 'Pyramids,' based on Alexander Graham Bell's experimental kite structures, echoes the home's strong triangular theme. An acetate disc used to press a record is cut into a triangle and framed, while a specially composed piece by Air's Nicolas Godin (opens in new tab) wafts through the whole space.
Modernist architecture has long been a muse for Veilhan's work, even inspiring his limited edition subscriber cover for our April issue, which combined the forms of Le Corbusier (opens in new tab)'s Cité Radieuse (opens in new tab) with the modernist visual arts of Kazimir Malevich. The Sheats-Goldstein House project - curated by Francois Perrin and organised by Xavier Veilhan studio and Galerie Perrotin (opens in new tab) - may be the artist's third intervention in Los Angeles, yet his energy for the project has not dimmed. 'This is a treat for me,' says Veilhan. '[Architectones] is not only about the pieces, it's also about the experience of the space.' Veilhan continues his interventions this June at the Cité Radieuse (opens in new tab) in Marseille.
The prismatic bright green aluminum sculpture of the tall and commanding Lautner looking out over a precipice recreates a historical photograph taken of the architect and his creation, giving it a bold, new flavour
Part of Veilhan's multi-venue 'Architectones' project, for which he installs site-specific works in buildings of architectural note around the world, 'Lautner' stands at the tip of the house's master bedroom
Perched atop canyons in Los Angeles, the Sheats-Goldstein features a dramatic, coffered ceiling living room that radiates out to the horizon as a majestic triangular overhang. Veilhan takes the strong geometric roofline and connects it to the pool below by stretching cords from the roof to the pool's perimeter below, creating one of his signature 'Rays' artworks
'Rays (Lautner),' by Xavier Veilhan, 2013
'Pyramids No. 1,' based on Alexander Graham Bell's experimental kite structures, echoes the home's strong triangular theme
-
Wadi AlFann, AlUla’s new land art destination, is stirring creativity in the desertWadi AlFann – Saudi Arabia’s Valley of the Arts – hints at the scale of its ambition with an event in the desert for curators, artists and cultural leaders ahead of the completion of its site and first five artworks
-
Colin King ‘Arranging Things’ book is an essential read for interior design inspiration and wisdom
Colin King ‘Arranging Things’, a new book published by Rizzoli, is filled with exquisite interiors and useful advice on finding beauty in everyday environments
-
Watches and Wonders behind the scenes: building the world’s biggest watch fair
Discover how Watches and Wonders 2023, the year’s biggest horological event, is designed and built
-
Ricardo Bofill’s La Muralla Roja as captured by Sebastian Weiss
As a tribute to architecture icon Ricardo Bofill (1939 – 2022) we revisit Hamburg-based photographer Sebastian Weiss’ captivating photo series on ‘La Muralla Roja’, first published in 2020
-
A photographic trip through America’s roadside façades
In her ongoing series, The Mother Road, Hayley Eichenbaum documents the tainted romanticism of roadside architecture on Route 66 in the American Southwest
-
Haegue Yang on the legacy of Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Legendary abstract artist and designer Sophie Taeuber-Arp is finally receiving her dues in a Tate Modern retrospective. To mark the occasion, Korean artist Haegue Yang reflects on the enduring influence of her work
-
Painting architecture: Tommy Fitzpatrick’s fractured modernist visions
Tommy Fitzpatrick’s new series of electric-hued architectural paintings capture the American artist's 30-year fascination with modernism
-
Rethinking modern architectural icons with Havsteen-Mikkelsen
A new book published by Kerber explores the modernist perspectives of artist Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen through a series of cocktail-hour vignettes
-
Palm Springs Modernism Week according to photographers Tom Blachford and Kate Ballis
-
The postwar public art that became a symbol of the British modernist dream
-
Jasmina Cibic on feminism, nation building and modernist architecture
