This week marks the debut of a glittering new attraction for New York City: the Hall des Lumières.
Located in the stately, landmarked Beaux-Arts headquarters of the former Emigrant Savings Bank near City Hall, it arrives courtesy of Culturespaces, one of the major forces that propelled “Immersive Van Gogh” to international sensation status last year via its L’Atelier des Lumières in Paris. The latter’s immersive Van Gogh lightshow featured as a date spot in the Netflix hit Emily in Paris.
To recreate that date-night magic, Culturespaces is betting big on Viennese painter Gustav Klimt. Now, New Yorkers don’t have to trek across the sea to the Belvedere museum in Vienna to see dorm-room poster favorite The Kiss. Instead, they can see it animated and projected at immense scale across the palatial insides of the Hall des Lumières for a show titled “Immersive Klimt: Gold in Motion,” alongside other famed Klimt works like the Beethoven Frieze and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (languid animations of works by fellow Viennese Succesionist Egon Schiele also make a cameo in the show).
If that’s not enough immersive entertainment for you, “Gold in Motion” runs on a loop with two other shows: one is an animated show dedicated to the rich patters of artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928–2000), carrying on the Viennese theme; the other is “Five Movements: Contemporary Creation,” a 10-minute experience featuring digitally augmented dance performances in five different styles from the technology studio Nohlab.
Be sure also to head down to the basement of the bank, where a new-media gallery has been nested within the Emmigrant Savings Banks’s giant safe. A mirrored chamber within which plays a piece made exclusively for Culturespaces by François Vautier, an ominous, spacey digital animation.
To give a sense of what to expect at the Hall des Lumières, check out the photos below.
The Hall des Lumières, located in the former Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Immersive Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion’ at the new Hall des Lumières in New York. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Friedensreich Hundertwasser: In the Wake of the Vienna Secession’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Friedensreich Hundertwasser: In the Wake of the Vienna Secession’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Friedensreich Hundertwasser: In the Wake of the Vienna Secession’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Friedensreich Hundertwasser: In the Wake of the Vienna Secession’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
Installation view of ‘Friedensreich Hundertwasser: In the Wake of the Vienna Secession’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
‘5 Movements: Contemporary Creation’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
‘5 Movements: Contemporary Creation’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
‘5 Movements: Contemporary Creation’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
‘5 Movements: Contemporary Creation’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
‘5 Movements: Contemporary Creation’ at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
The entrance to the underground gallery at the Hall des Lumières, in the old bank vault. Photo by Ben Davis.
François Vautier’s Recoding Entropia at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.
The giftshop at the Hall des Lumières. Photo by Ben Davis.