Art Times: Maison Lune

Author:Abigail Stone

In 2019, when Frieze Art Fair launched its Los Angeles edition (this year it will open on Friday, February 29th at the Santa Monica Airport and run through March 3rd) and Felix Art Fair debuted at The Roosevelt Hotel (Thursday, February 28 through March 3rd), they confirmed the importance of Los Angeles in the world’s art conversation.

In the ensuring years, the gallery scene has grown exponentially. One of the more intriguing galleries to fling open its doors is Maison Lune. Located in Venice, a neighborhood whose design is inspired by the Italian city from which it derives its name, it’s a space full of beauty and surprises. 

An imposing 1980s-era dark gray building, designed by architect Kurt Simon and accessed by a narrow stairwell, hides a spacious light-filled  three story loft with 27 foot ceilings, whose enormous floor-to-ceiling windows overlook one of the area’s canals.

“We entered the house and couldn’t stop thinking about it. We fell in love with the space says Ms. Lubov.  The creative force behind Maison Lune, she had steered the success of BCBG Max Azria, the fashion company she co-founded, and re-ignited Herve Leger, the Parisan couture house. Now, she wanted to create a place that would serve as a new outlet for her energetic and dynamic spirit.

The result is Maison Lune, an appointment-only space, which serves as both a gallery and the home of of Lubov Azria and Sandrine Abessera, a French-Moroccan artist whose studio sprawls across the top floor. A salon in the true French Enlightenment sense of the term, it is a gathering of intriguing people, brought together to share ideas — often over delicious food and drink — in a beautiful and welcoming space. 

Gabriella Kuti, who oversaw the home’s interior design, was tasked with the creating a unified aesthetic that would support a rotating exhibition of work. She tapped Alexander Diaz Anderson of the Mexican City-based Atra Furniture, to design the home’s curvaceous and comfortable custom pieces. Underfoot are hand-knotted silk rugs from Sweden’s Henzel Studio, their frayed and uneven outlines a result of natural, controlled erosion. A selection of Amande Haeghen sconces can be found illuminating the bathrooms and a changing array of accessories from Merit and plants from Plants & Spaces echo the space’s mutable, quixotic nature. 

“Times Imprint,” Ms. Abessara’s series of exuberant large-scale works, is inspired by the layering of flyers that can be found covering the temporary wooden fences that enclose construction sites, “I cull eclectic ephemera from the internet, signage, detritus and other materials from my daily life which reflect my fractured thoughts into my living environment,” says artist. “My artwork exists first as unique original assemblages made from a variety of media that have been deconstructed and rephotographed, layer upon layer, and composed in terms of shapes, forms, and color.”

Her work can be found at Felix Art Fair, where Maison Lune has partnered with the Judith Center for a poster launch which will feature her as one of its contributing artists. It is also a part of A Time Was Had: Is An Awakening, a presentation curated by Mashonda Tifrere, the founder of Los Angeles, CA–Art Genesis, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering sustainable marketplaces for artists, which will debut at Maison Lune during Frieze LA Art Week, and also includes work by artists Maya Seas, Murjoni Merriweather, Elizabeth Waggett, Khari Turner and Yulia Bas.

To make an appointment to experience Maison Lune, click here.