Amsterdam’s Westergasfabriek was built in 1885 by the Imperial Continental Gas Association, but in 1967 the building was given a new lease of life and became a cultural hub to be enjoyed by everyone in the city. It is located in Westerpark, just a ten-minute walk from the oldest part of Amsterdam. The Fabrique des Lumières started in Paris in 2018 with the opening of Atelier des Lumières, created by Culturespaces. This digital immersive art center attracted more than three million visitors, with digitized works by artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Gustav Klimt and Salvador Dalí. On 22 April 2022, the Fabrique des Lumières opened in Westergasfabriek, stretching across 2,800 m2. The exhibitions will be suitable for visitors of all ages and will be specially designed to complement the venue’s unique architecture, with its seventeen-metre-high walls. Alongside the immersive exhibitions focusing on classical and modern artists, an additional space will provide a backdrop for exhibiting contemporary works of art.
2022 Exhibition Programme
Gustav Klimt – “Gold in Motion”
To mark its opening, the Fabrique des Lumières will explore a century of Viennese painting and offer a one-of-a-kind look at the works of Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) and his successors through a plethora of portraits, landscapes, nudes, colours and golds. Klimt was the driving force behind the Vienna Secession, a movement that sought to shake up European art, paving the way for contemporary painting. The golden hues and decorative motifs symbolise this artistic revolution. Visitors will be invited to cast their eyes over large-format masterpieces, such as Klimt’s iconic work The Kiss, and will be immersed in the Imperial Vienna of the late nineteenth century. Created by Gianfranco Iannuzzi, Renato Gatto and Massimiliano Siccardi, with music by Luca Longobardi.
Hundertwasser – “In the Wake of the Vienna Secession”
Created by Gianfranco Iannuzzi, Renato Gatto and Massimiliano Siccardi, the exhibition “Hundertwasser: In the Wake of the Vienna Secession” immerses visitors in the work of Viennese artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928 – 2000). A painter and architect, he followed in the footsteps of the Vienna Secession movement that had started several decades earlier. He breathed new life into art and was heavily influenced by the artistic revolution instigated by Klimt. His paintings and architectural work, which are deeply imbued with respect for both mankind and nature, draw on the source of life and the elements. Like Gustav Klimt, Hundertwasser abandoned perspective, instead opting for a succession of planes. He turned his back on straight lines, preferring more expressive strokes that gave rise to irregular forms.
In the contemporary creations studio: “Journey”
“Journey” is an experimental journey exploring the birth of photons, one of the primary elements of light. This exhibition accompanies photons on their journey through each layer of the eye (iris, vitreous humour, optical nerve, etc.) until they eventually reach the neurons and are converted into electrical signals. It describes the process by which photons are transformed into a form of energy that is perceptible by the brain. A contemporary creation by the Nohlab production studio.
In the contemporary creations studio: “Memories”
The human brain has infinitely more powerful recording capacity than any computer, but memory is selective: it sorts, selects and keeps only what it considers potentially useful. The exhibition “Memories” makes the visitor think about the immensity of the world and the place we occupy in it. In total immersion in a flow of images and information, everyone is free to retain in memory a little of what constitutes the essence of this enchanted interlude. By Spectre Lab, a multidisciplinary creative studio created in 2014 by Marc Vidal, Jérôme Sérane and Philippe Granier.
All exhibitions run until 31 December 2022.
Info & tickets: www.fabrique-lumieres.com