The LINK Hotel & Hub in Tel Aviv, an app-powered hotel that offers a unique wireless lodging experience, is launching an original exhibition by contemporary Israeli street artists dedicated to DC Comics hero Batman.
The hotel is marking the 80th anniversary of the introduction of the fictional character in Detective Comics volume 27 in 1939 by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, both Jewish-American artists. Batman soon gained his own eponymous comic book title, taking readers and fans on journeys fighting crime and taking down bad guys in Gotham City using superior detective skills, martial arts, and various futuristic weapons and equipment which he funds through his own personal fortune. Batman, after all, does not possess superpowers.
The exhibit runs from December 22, 2019 to January 30, 2020, drawing on the talents of 15 Israeli and international artists from the Tel Aviv street art and graffiti scenes. Among them is Edgar Rafael, a Russian-born Israeli artist, designer, painter, and sculptor who in 2017 was chosen to paint a Tel Aviv lifeguard tower that was turned into a boutique hotel.
The original Batman works are displayed on canvas, wood, and paper, and prints will be made available for sale following the exhibition, the hotel announced.
The LINK hotel’s Batman art exhibition was curated by award-winning French photographer and artist Daniel Siboni, the hotel’s chief art curator who also put together the hotel’s unique street art collection that lines the corridors and guestrooms. Each floor in the LINK hotel is dedicated to one of 12 street artists tapped to produce original artwork for the hotel. All the artwork is for sale.
Siboni and French-Israeli artist Eric Brakha worked on a unique piece for the exhibit that depicts Batman – mask on, but still wearing what appears to be a tailored suit made for by his Bruce Wayne identity – and a very Gal Gadot-looking Wonder Woman.
Artsy and app-run
The LINK hotel opened its doors in July 2018 and was named among the world’s “100 most incredible hotels” by Fodor’s Travel, a New York-based leading travel publication, just a few months later.
The 94-room hotel is owned by the Dan Hotels chain of Israeli luxury hotels and was built with an investment of NIS 40 million ($10.6M).
The hotel offers a tech-focused stay with no cash transactions, no reception desk, no bellboys and no concierge. Instead, guests download the LinkApp to their phones to perform a number of transactions including checking in, out, unlocking their rooms, controlling in-room functions such as the TV and air-conditioning, and adjusting the color and intensity of the light settings. Through the app, guests can also make free calls across Israel.
The app also serves as a virtual concierge that helps guests explore Tel Aviv, providing information on entertainment, dining, shopping, nightlife, culture, and transportation to the airport and around the country from the hotel’s King Saul Avenue location in central Tel Aviv.
The hotel has a hub that functions as a coworking space – ubiquitous in cities nowadays – and a common area for guests with a full-size pool table, board games, and video games. Food and drinks are available from the street-side Link café and the Hub kitchen & bar.
There’s also a fully-equipped hotel gym and spa, personal storage lockers, self-service laundry facilities, and vending machines.
This year, the hotel launched an art studio called LINK Street, featuring a variety of unique street art items created exclusively for the space that can also be purchased.
The LINK has described itself as catering to a “new generation of business travelers and tourists, offering a concept of ‘connecting’; contemporary design, Tel Aviv’s vibrant social scene, street art, and advanced technology.”
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