Category: Walking in Chelsea in Manhattan

Museum of Illusions 77 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10014

Museum of Illusions 77 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10014

Museum of Illusions

77 Eighth Avenue

New York, NY 10014

(212) 645-3230

https://www.facebook.com/moi.newyork/

Admission: Adults $24.00/Students-Seniors-Essential Workers $22.00/Children Under Six Free/Family Fee (Two Adults and Two Children $75.00)

Open: Sunday 10:00am-12:00am/Monday-Thursday 10:00am-11:00pm/Friday-Saturday 10:00am-12:00am

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d14203837-Reviews-Museum_of_Illusions-New_York_City_New_York.html

Video on the “Museum of Illusions”

The Museum of Illusions is a interesting museum in that it is a small museum packed with various exhibitions and hands on displays that are interactive for the visitor. Each one is an experience in itself. The visitor participates in what the display has to offer and it plays with both your mind and with your personality and how you react to it.

The main gallery at the Museum of Illusions

There are a lot of brain teasers and mirrors to throw you off or add to the display to entertain you. The optical illusions will test your mind and your senses. There are titled rooms to test your balance and your sense of sight, mirrored rooms to show location and reaction and small displays to show size and distance.

Admittingly it is a very small museum of the steep price of admission ($24.00 for an adult) and you will only be in the museum for about an hour. The problem with this museum is that once you experience it and if they do not change the displays, there is no reason to go back. The small displays can be experienced on two floors.

The Tilted Room display

The afternoon I was here, the museum was packed with summer campers and school aged kids who dominated the place and it is so small that it was hard to maneuver around the museum. Still it was a very interesting museum to experience once as it will test the power of and exercise your brain.

The Clone Table

Me in the Vertical Room

The Illusions Gallery

History of the Museum of Illusions:

(From the Museum Website)

Enter the fascinating world of illusions which will test your confidence in your senses yet amaze you by doing it. It is world that will confuse you completely, educating you in the process. Visit us and you will be thrilled because nothing is what it seems-especially in the Museum of Illusions!

The Infinity Tunnel

Are you ready for a fascinating adventure? We offer an intriguing visual, sensory and educational experience with a handful of new, unexplored illusions.

The Reverse Room

New York, place to experience illusions!

The Museum of Illusions in New York brings you a space that offers wonderous and entertaining insights into the world of illusions which will delight all generations. The museum is a unique place for new experiences and fun with family and friends. Not only is it an exciting place for children, who adore coming, but it’s also a great place for parents, couples and grandparents!

The Optical Illusions of the museum

Enjoy our collection of holograms, look closely at every optical illusion and observe each installation thoroughly. Our exhibits are a brilliant, playful reminder that our assumptions about the world we perceive are often nothing but a shadow of illusions. Our genuine collection of showpieces will most certainly make your jaw drop!

The Museum of Illusions Master of Numbers

The Museum of Illusions amusing, and awesome features will teach you about how the human brain perceives reality. You will come to understand why your eyes see things which your mind cannot initially comprehend. Make sure you visit our playroom with its intriguing and educational games and puzzles. These brain mashers are great fun but also delightfully tricky!

The Magic Prism

Poster House 119 West 23rd Street New York, NY 10011

Poster House 119 West 23rd Street New York, NY 10011

Poster House

119 West 23rd Street

New York, NY 10011

(917) 722-2439

https://www.facebook.com/posterhousenyc/

Open: Sunday 10:00am-6:00pm/Monday-Wednesday Closed/ Thursday-Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm

Admission: Adults $12.00/Children Over 18/People with Disabilities/Students & Educators/Veterans $8.00. Children under 18 and Members are free (please check website for changes)

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d17794247-Reviews-Poster_House-New_York_City_New_York.html

The Poster House Museum at 119 West 23rd Street.

The Poster House is a little gem of a museum that I must have passed many times and never knew it was a museum. I had never heard of this museum before. The Poster House is dedicated to the history and art of posters and how they impact our lives as a way of communication. I got a chance to see the whole museum in about two hours.

The first exhibition on the first floor of the museum was “Utopian Avant-Guard: Soviet Film Posters of the 1920’s”, a retrospect on the film industry during the Silent Era. It was a time with the fall of the Czar and the coming of Communism where artists tried to shape the new face of Communism before the rigidity of the party controlled the whole film industry from the end of Silents until the Fall of Communism in the early 1990’s.

“The Utopian Avant-Guard: Soviet Film Posters of the 1920’s” exhibition

During the early years of the Communism, the country was going through radical changes that were not facing the rigid standards of the future Communist Party. Artists and film makers were getting their creativity from the West from countries in Europe and the United States. The creative class got to experiment with film and adapted what they saw to their own markets. This did not last long as Communism took hold and then started to control the content that was shown in the country. This continued from the Silent Era until the mid 1990’s when Communism fell.

Movie Poster from the 1920’s: ‘Six Girls Seeking Shelter’ from 1928

There were two interesting exhibitions on the lower level on artist and poster maker Ethel Reed. The exhibition was a collection of her work for magazines, books and film. She handled all sorts of mediums and was prominent for many years in the industry until her work fell out of fashion and her behavior became erratic with addiction.

“Ethel Reed: I am my own Woman”

The last exhibition that I toured was “Experimental Marriage: Women in Early Hollywood”, women whose role in in the film industry included writers, directors and producers. It showed how the influential women were in the industry before it became corporate. It also showed how actors had a lot of say in their films and the themes of the films were more female based. As things got concentrated in California and became more unionized, it became more of ‘Good Old Boys’ network as the industry became more streamlined.

“Experimental Marriage: Women in Early Hollywood” exhibition

What I liked about the museum is that it showed the politics from all angles and explained its progression and future in these industries.

The museum also has a nice gift shop and bookstore and a small restaurant, Café des Affiches.

History & Mission of the Poster House:

(From the Museum website)

The Poster House is dedicated to presenting the impact, culture and design of posters, both as historical documents and contemporary visual communication.

Through temporary exhibitions, a growing permanent collection and educational events, Poster House explores the enormous impact of posters on society and culture and how they have been adapted to contemporary use. As the first poster museum in the United States, The Poster House provides a space for inquiry for all those interested in design, advertising and public interventions with an aim to improve design literacy among the general public.

Posters explore:

*Mass communication and persuasion

*the intersection of art and commerce

*control of the public domain

Poster House was founded in 2015 with an eye towards filling a long-acknowledged gap in the New York cultural landscape for accessible art and design. After several years of planning and construction, Poster House opened its doors on June 20th, 2019.

Poster House is proud to receive support from the New York State Council of the Arts. Poster House is an affiliate member of the International Vintage Poster Dealers Association.