From Warhol’s Silver Clouds to A.A. Murakami’s Airo Dress: A History of Pneumatic Art
A recent survey of pneumatic art and architecture connects the dots from Andy Warhol's Silver Clouds (1966) to A.A. Murakami’s Airo Dress for Iris van Herpen, showcased at the 2025 Met Gala. Notable pieces include Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s unrealized Air Package on a Ceiling (1968), Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Blur Building (2002), Tomás Saraceno’s Cloud Cities, and Hans-Walter Müller’s inflatable home Volume M210 (1973). The Inflatocookbook (1971) by Ant Farm made inflatable design accessible to all. At Milan Design Week 2026, Habits Design unveiled MAREA / TIDE, a helium-inflated installation. Gagosian’s exhibition focuses on Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s pneumatic creations, emphasizing their dependence on air as both material and method, highlighting the need for ongoing maintenance and the inherent fragility of containment.
Key facts
- Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds (1966) featured helium-filled pillows.
- Merce Cunningham used Warhol’s balloons in RainForest (1968).
- Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Air Package on a Ceiling (1968) is a suspended membrane.
- Gagosian exhibited Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s pneumatic works.
- Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Blur Building (2002) was a fogbank on a Swiss lake.
- Tomás Saraceno’s On Space Time Foam (2012) is a suspended membrane habitat.
- Ant Farm’s Inflatocookbook (1971) was a DIY manual for inflatables.
- A.A. Murakami and Iris van Herpen’s Airo Dress (2025) released bubbles at the Met Gala.
- Habits Design’s MAREA / TIDE (2026) was a responsive helium installation at Milan Design Week.
- Hans-Walter Müller’s Volume M210 (1973) is a two-story inflatable house.
Entities
Artists
- Andy Warhol
- Merce Cunningham
- Christo
- Jeanne-Claude
- Diller Scofidio + Renfro
- Tomás Saraceno
- Hans-Walter Müller
- A.A. Murakami
- Iris van Herpen
- Eileen Gu
- Habits Design
- Haus-Rucker-Co
- Ant Farm
Institutions
- Gagosian
- Met Gala
- Milan Design Week
- Ant Farm
- Haus-Rucker-Co
- Hangar Bicocca
- Expo.02
- Art Gallery of Ontario
- The Andy Warhol Museum
- designboom
Locations
- Minneapolis
- Minnesota
- United States
- Switzerland
- Milan
- Italy
- Germany
- La Ferté-Alais
- France
- Pittsburgh
Sources
- Designboom —
- Designboom —