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An artsy carnival like something out of a dream is heading to Manhattan’s west side this fall.
The Shed just announced its 2024-2025 season programming and, as has been the case since the relatively new cultural destination debuted in Hudson Yards in 2019, the lineup is looking pretty stacked.
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In October, for example, British actor and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh will star in a production of Shakespeare's King Lear. Before then, in mid-September, audience members will get to catch a one-night-only reimagining of The Breakdown Odyssey by Ms. Boogie, the iconic debut album by the New York-based rapper.
But its “Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy” is what’s really catching our attention. It is basically a massive fun house that will be installed inside the soaring McCourt space at the center on November 20, displaying a vast array of carnival rides and attractions by famous artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dalí, Sonia Delauna, Keith Haring and Roy Lichtenstein, among many others.
From a vibrant carousel boasting chairs painted by Kenny Scharf to a Ferris wheel featuring the art of Basquiat, the exhibit will be filled with the wonderful pieces that first debuted in Hamburg, Germany, in 1987. Although meant to tour the world, the park was never on display again after that original run—until 2023, when it was installed in Los Angeles.
“And then, by a twist of fate, the park’s treasures were forgotten in storage in Texas for 36 years,” reads a press release. “‘Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy’ resurrected these artworks, to audiences’ delight.”
"The resulting show is a colorful jubilee of larger-than-life installations, originally created by the artists themselves (you can watch archival footage of Keith Haring standing in front of his carousel with a paintbrush in hand) or artisans at the Vienna opera," wrote our L.A. editor Michael Juliano when he caught the show in California. "To be clear, you can’t actually ride any of the carnival attractions (though you can walk inside of both Dalí’s and Hockney’s installations if you upgrade to a Moon Pass). Instead, the rides here are presented like they’re in a museum, though one with colorful lighting, whirling motors, jugglers, stilt walkers and musical compositions by Miles Davis and Philip Glass floating around."
Clearly a feat of visual marvel, "Luna Luna" will likely be one of the most exciting activations of the season, so you might want to, perhaps, set an alarm for when tickets will be available to the general public: at noon on Thursday, September 19.