This summer, a surreal watermelon universe has settled in downtown Chengdu, bringing a refreshing aesthetic to the city’s hot summer air. On July 15, Chengdu IFS, the city’s landmark, celebrated the opening ceremony of “the MELON-VERSE”, an immersive interactive art exhibition created in collaboration with renowned French artist Cyril Lancelin and attended by government officials, brand VIPs and members of the media. For his first ever solo exhibition in China, Cyril Lancelin consciously chooses the watermelon, the representative fruit of summer, as a creative element to create an experiential space that is both gigantic and immersive. He combines both virtuality and reality as well as perception and imagination to interpret the powerful pull of beautiful things and to lead the public to escape their norm, to meet the world more gently and to harvest infinite energy. And as a gesture of actively embracing the digital world, Chengdu IFS is also releasing its first-ever themed NFT collection, a milestone aimed at bringing new “life energy” to artworks and supporting the worthwhile cause of protecting the giant panda.
The master visual artist’s first China solo creates a watermelon universe that breaks the norm
Known for his futuristic style and unique creative mentality that does not tolerate mediocrity, Cyril Lancelin has been recognized and acclaimed worldwide. Combining dates with elements of life, the French visual artist begins with primitive geometric shapes to create living spaces that blur the line between virtuality and reality, using everyday objects such as coins, cacti and strawberries as his creative subjects.
For its Summer 2022 art exhibition, Chengdu IFS’ desire to amplify the city’s unique characteristics is a strong inspiration for Cyril Lancelin, who has chosen watermelon, a fruit capable of evoking seasonal delight, as the creative element for his first-ever solo event in China. During the creative process…































