GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — You will soon be able to experience Van Gogh's artwork like never before in an exhibit coming to DeVos Place in June.
Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience will mix technology, music and most importantly, Van Gogh's artwork.
The exhibition will showcase over 300 of Van Gogh's paintings projected on the walls and floor of DeVos Place from June 14 through July 9.
Beyond Van Gogh was a product of the pandemic when French-Canadian Director Mathieu St-Arnaud and his team at Montreal’s Normal Studio wanted to create an experience that people could enjoy safely.
Fanny Curtat, the Art History Consultant for Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, said that everything came together in October 2020.
"We started the process then. And it was so during the pandemic, and it was all about creating an experience in which people could have a cultural event and still be safe, have a lot of room around them and be really able to enjoy the experience," said Curtat in an interview with 13 ON YOUR SIDE.
Curtat talked about how the studio went about deciding how to create the experience and which artist's work they should focus on.
"Vincent's work sort of became an obvious choice, because even though he never went through the multiple crises we're going through right now, he's so widely known to have struggled and for the hardship in his life, but then being able to sort of overcome them through art, and really showcasing the beauty of the world. And finding solace in this beauty in the colors he saw power and colors," Curtat added.
A look at Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience
The exhibition features three distinctive rooms for patrons to enjoy. The first room, known as "The Introduction Hall", is where you can get to know Van Gogh a little bit more. It features correspondence with his brother, panels of letters written in his own words and blown-up paintings that show individual brush strokes.
The second room of the exhibition is known as "The Waterfall Room" and acts as a portal between the first room and the main exhibit. It is filled with splashes and dots of colors flowing down the walls, intermittently forming into one of the artist’s self-portraits. The room is intended to prepare guests for what is to come in the final room.
"It's a portal to indicate that you're not going to a traditional museum type experience. And also to prepare you that physically because it can be a bit trippy to just enter then a room where everything moves along with you. And it's just a dreamlike journey once you get to that last room, which is the immersive room where really all the magic happens," said Curtat about "The Waterfall Room."
And then the main event is the room where you are truly immersed in Van Gogh's work. This is where you'll get to experience a 35-minute loop of Van Gogh's artwork swirling across the walls, floors and monoliths set up in the exhibition.
The artwork is shown alongside music from contemporary artists.
"Music plays such an important role in this experience, like I said, of having this bridge between the 21st century audience and the 19th century artists, music is key for that. So we went along, not necessarily having time period appropriate music, but really showcasing just how his work is timeless by choosing different composers and artists from different periods," said Curtat.
The music from the exhibition is available to listen to on Spotify.
The whole experience takes about an hour to get through, but patrons can go at their own pace to enjoy the exhibition.
The show is for all ages and tickets are available now at VanGoghGrandRapids.com.
Tickets are 10% off through March 17 at 11:59 p.m.
Watch the full interview with Fanny Curtat below:
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
