Press Preview: May 7, 2026 | 10 AM — 1 PM
On View: May 8 — October 4, 2026
April 1, 2026 (Venice, Italy) – In parallel with the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia, marking the 20th anniversary of the Espaces Louis Vuitton and the 10th anniversary of the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s Hors-les-murs programme, the Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia presents DOKU The Illusion, a solo presentation by Chinese-born artist Lu Yang curated by Claire Staebler, on view from May 8 — October 4, 2026.
This exhibition is part of the Hors-les-murs programme, embodying the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s mission to mount international projects and reach a broader global audience through exclusive exhibitions at the Espaces Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Munich, Venice, Beijing, Seoul and Osaka.
Represented by SOCIÉTÉ, Lu Yang has established a strong presence on the international art scene through the creation of virtual worlds presented as immersive video installations. His imagined universes — often marked by post-apocalyptic undertones — are grounded above all in Buddhist philosophy, engaging concepts such as dreams and waking, illusion and awakening, and the Madhyamaka inquiry into intrinsic nature. This philosophical framework intersects with a broader investigation into the structure of reality in the digital age.
Le Sirenuse Mare Restaurant, open for lunch daily, is rooted in Mediterranean and Campanian traditions. Under the dynamic tutelage of chef Francesco De Simone, it celebrates the southern Italian talent for the good life, for conviviality, for simplicity carried to a peak of excellence. The culinary classics of Naples and the Amalfi Coast, with their warm and vibrant flavours, feature alongside raw and grilled vegetables and seafood in plates designed for sharing. Committed to freshness and seasonality, the chef has built a trusted local network of growers, speciality food artisans and fisherfolk. On the upper terrace of the Restaurant & Bar area, the Dolce Far Niente Bar serves a range of homemade granitas and gelatos alongside definitive versions of Italian and regional sweet treats such as tiramisù and babà. Opposite is Le Sirenuse Mare’s retro-style Bar Mare – the ideal spot for a pre-lunch drink or early evening aperitivo. Caressed by sea breezes in the beach club’s Seafront area, Rose’s Bar is the perfect place to unwind with amici old and new. In both bars, a seasonal signature cocktail menu takes centre stage, featuring creative twists on spritzes, fresh ingredients, and premium spirits.
Le Sirenuse Mare channels the Sersale family’s passion for contemporary art and artisanship. As guests ascend from the beach, their eyes are inevitably drawn to the beach club’s artistic centrepiece, a monumental fountain in pearly white refractory clay by Rome-based sculptor Giuseppe Ducrot. Other works scattered around the club include maverick British artist Rose Wylie’s painted bronze sculpture Pineapple (2020) – which has found a home not far from the bar named in Wylie’s honour – and Caryatide (2017), a tower sculpture in raw air-dried clay by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi, which stands at the far end of an olive grove on the beach club’s highest level.
Manga, video games and anime — contemporary visual idioms adopted by Lu Yang — function primarily as a formal vocabulary rather than as the conceptual foundation of his work. Through this visual grammar, the artist brings forth hybrid entities that move beyond fixed categories of identity and embodiment, opening a space to reflect on what it means to be human in the 21st century.
For his exhibition at the Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia, Lu Yang has created an installation featuring original sculptures and a video work centred on his new film DOKU The Illusion, the fourth chapter in the DOKU series, an ambitious narrative project the artist began in 2019. DOKU is a virtual character based on the digitalisation of the artist’s own face. The series depicts the solitary adventures of this multifaceted avatar, through which Lu Yang transcends the limits of the physical body and explores new forms of freedom through digital reincarnation.
The installation created by Lu Yang transforms the Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia into a cybernetic sanctuary, situated somewhere between a chapel and a futuristic refuge. At its core, the film DOKU The Illusion can be seen on a monumental LED screen, placed on an altar. This chapter is the series’ fourth instalment after The Self (2022), The Flow (2023), and The Creator (2025), and blends live-action footage with AI-generated imagery. It primarily unfolds against a backdrop of the deep-blue skies and expansive landscapes of Japan’s Izu Peninsula, forming a veritable road movie.
Taken in an immersive environment, visitors are greeted by two sculptures of Buddha holding the wheel of life, the eternal symbol of the cycle of existence. Thanks to a mirrored ceiling reflecting a floor that is characteristic of Venetian architecture, each visitor becomes part of the experience, their projected silhouette integrated into the installation itself for a liminal moment in time in which contemplation and dissolution merge and mirror, echoing the Buddhist quest for enlightenment.
Within this sanctuary-like space, the visitor watches DOKU hurtling along in a red vehicle, a symbol of freedom. The soundtrack — a blend of hip-hop, piano and traditional music — harmonises exquisitely with the voices, intimate narratives and palpable vibrations, reflecting the theme of the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia, IN MINOR KEYS.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
DOKU The Illusion will be on view at Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia from May 8 - October 4, 2026.
Address
Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia
Calle del Ridotto 1351
30124 Venezia
Italia
Press Preview
May 7, 2026 | 10 AM – 1 PM
Opening Hours
Monday – Sunday | 10:30 AM – 7 PM
Open on public holidays. Free entry.
About Lu Yang:
Born in Shanghai (China), Lu Yang lives and works in Tokyo (Japan). He graduated from The China Academy of Art’s New Media Art Department in Hangzhou (China) and has since received tremendous worldwide attention with his immersive environments combining computer-generated videos, multimedia installations, sculptures and virtual performances.
In 2022, Lu Yang was named Artist of the Year by Deutsche Bank (Germany). That same year, his work was featured in WORLDBUILDING, an exhibition curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist at the Julia Stoschek Foundation in Düsseldorf (Germany), which later travelled to the Centre Pompidou-Metz (France). His upcoming projects include a projection of his work on The High Line in New York City (USA) and his involvement in the reopening of New Museum with New Humans: Memories of the Future (New York, USA, 2026).
Lu Yang has held solo exhibitions at major international institutions including UCCA — Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing, China, 2011), moCa Cleveland (Ohio, USA, 2017), M WOODS (Beijing, China, 2018), ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum (Denmark, 2021-2022), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, Japan, 2022), Kunstpalais Erlangen (Germany, 2022), PalaisPopulaire (Berlin, Germany, 2022-2023), the Zabludowicz Collection (London, UK, 2022-2023), Kunsthalle Basel (Switzerland, 2023), Fondation Louis Vuitton (Paris, France, 2024), K11 (Hong Kong, China, 2025), and Amant (New York, USA, 2025-2026).
His work has also been presented in significant group exhibitions at such institutions as Fridericianum (Kassel, Germany, 2014), ICA — Institute of Contemporary Arts (London, UK, 2016), Rockbund Art Museum (Shanghai, China, 2018), CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo (Israel, 2019), Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin, Germany, 2019-2022), The Milk of Dreams at the 59th Biennale di Venezia (Italy, 2022), Muzeum Sztuki (Łódź, Poland, 2022), Times Square Arts (New York, USA, 2023), and the Centre Pompidou (Paris, France, 2024-2025).
About the Curator:
Claire Staebler worked as a curator at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (France), from 2012 to 2022. She has been involved in many exhibitions, events and catalogs, including Contact: Olafur Eliasson (2014), Bentu, Artists at a Time of Turbulence and Transformation (2016), Being there: South Africa, a contemporary art scene (2018), Fugues in Color (2022) as well as co-curator of the programme dedicated to emerging artists "Open Space".
In 2012, she was associate curator at La Triennale Intense Proximity (Palais de Tokyo, Paris), under the artistic direction of Okwui Enwezor. From 2007 to 2009, she was the artistic director of the Pinchuk Art Centre, Kyiv (Ukraine). Since 2022, she is the director of Frac des Pays de la Loire (Contemporary Regional Arts Fund, Carquefou, France).
About the Fondation Louis Vuitton:
The Fondation Louis Vuitton serves the public interest and is exclusively dedicated to contemporary art and artists, as well as 20th-century works to which his inspirations can be traced. The collection and the exhibitions it organises seek to engage a broad public. The magnificent building created by the Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and already recognised as an emblematic example of 21st-century architecture, constitutes the Fondation’s seminal artistic statement. Since its opening in October 2014, the Fondation has welcomed more than eleven million visitors from France and around the world.
The Fondation Louis Vuitton commits to engage in international initiatives, both at the Fondation and in partnership with public and private institutions, such as the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg (Icons of Modern Art The Shchukin Collection in 2016 and The Morozov Collection in 2021), the MoMA in New York (Being Modern: MoMA in Paris), the Courtauld Institute of Art in London (The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art (Joan Mitchell Retrospective) among others. The Fondation also developed a specific “Hors-les-murs” programme taking place within the Espaces Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Munich, Venice, Beijing, Seoul and Osaka, presenting exhibitions of artworks from the Collection. These exhibitions are open to the public free of charge.
Image credits:
1 - 3. DOKU The Illusion, 2026. Video installation, colour, sound. © Lu Yang