First Painting in Space

First Painting in Space

Paris, France

2020

Europe

The Galerie Montmartre in Paris hosted the “First Painting in Space” exhibition and showcased the painting that had been sent into space a few weeks before, as a tribute to Leonardo da Vinci on the 500th anniversary of his death. This punk Mona Lisa was propelled into the stratosphere 33.4 km above the Earth for over 1 hour and a half. This world premiere was also a technical exploit: sending a piece of art to be exhibited where no painting had been exhibited before. It took seven months to put every element together, from developing a helium balloon and finding the right materials for the painting to creating the custom-made basket it would hang from. Once everything fell in place and the weather conditions were favorable, “Punk Mona” was launched and the whole performance recorded by a camera attached to the basket. This brand-new perspective in showing art was applauded as a success and the artist’s performance became a worldwide sensation in the media.