Louis Vuitton Presents New Exhibition at Espace Beijing

On April 18, Louis Vuitton debuted a new exhibition, Painting From Nature, at its Espace art space in Beijing. The show brings together works by two major contemporary artists — the late Joan Mitchell and London-based Megan Rooney. Xu Minghao, a Louis Vuitton brand ambassador, and actress Zhu Zhu were among the guests attending the opening.

The exhibition is part of the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s Hors-les-murs initiative, which takes the foundation’s art collections and collaborations beyond its Paris base and into global cultural hubs. Previous iterations of this cross-cultural project have been held in Tokyo, Venice, Munich, Seoul, Osaka, and Beijing — showcasing the foundation’s commitment to international artistic exchange.

A pioneer of abstract expressionism, Joan Mitchell was one of the most important women artists of the 20th century. Her paintings are vibrant with movement, emotion, and memory — translating light and landscape into expressive fields of color and texture. After relocating to France in 1959, she developed a distinctive visual language during her time in Vétheuil, often drawing from nature and music. In 2022, the Fondation Louis Vuitton presented a major retrospective celebrating her life and work.

Megan Rooney, born in South Africa and raised in Brazil, brings a radically contemporary energy to the exhibition. Known for her immersive, large-scale works, Rooney’s paintings often spill off the canvas and into the surrounding space, combining performative gestures with vivid color. Her practice merges painting with installation and performance, using materials like oil, acrylic, and powdered pigment to create dense, layered surfaces that suggest natural landscapes and emotional states.

Painting From Nature marks a conversation across time and style — between Mitchell’s poetic abstraction and Rooney’s visceral, physical approach. Both artists immerse themselves physically in their works: Rooney’s handprints and sweeping motions echo Mitchell’s expressive brushwork. Their practices reflect a shared intensity — where painting becomes not just a visual experience, but a full-bodied one. Rooney’s art blurs the lines between canvas and stage, while Mitchell’s landscapes remain deeply rooted in memory and emotion, offering a timeless resonance for today’s viewers.