Van Gogh Works Come Alive In New Immersive Experience
WDCB’s Gary Zidek visits the recently opened IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH experience in Chicago.
LISTEN
“This immersive experience can only bring more interest to the art of, in this case, van Gogh, and I think it will attract people who probably would not (have) gone to the museum. (But) after learning about van Gogh here, they might go to the Art Institute and learn more about the artist.” - Immersive van Gogh co-producer, Maria Schlover talking about the role she believes immersive art experiences will play within the larger art community.
Immersive van Gogh co-producer Maria Schlover
A new Chicago venue dedicated to presenting immersive art experiences is now open. Despite having to contend with a pandemic and brutal weather conditions, people are flocking to see Lighthouse Artspace’s new IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH exhibit inside the Germania Club Building in the Old Town neighborhood. Over 150,000 tickets have been sold for the experience, which opened to the public on February 11.
Billed as an exhibit, a better description of IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH might be to call it an immersive film experience based on Vincent van Gogh’s most iconic works. Imagine watching a painting come to life on the walls all around you.
A look inside Immersive Van Gogh Chicago. Photo Credit Michael Brosilow
IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH received critical praise during its debut in Toronto last summer. The experience is making its U.S. debut in Chicago. The project was designed by Italian film producer Massimiliano Siccardi, with original music by Italian multimedia composer Luca Longobardi. Siccardi and Longobardi have worked on several immersive art projects in Paris, where they were part of the team that created the world-renowned Van Gogh, Starry Night exhibition. With more than 70 projectors illuminating over 15,000 square-feet, visitors to IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH will be encircled from head-to-toe in Van Gogh’s brushstrokes and colors, including animated details from works such as Self Portrait with Felt Hat (1888), The Bedroom in Arles (1889), Irises (1889) and The Starry Night (1889).
Images blossom before your eyes on the walls of the exhibition. Photo credit Gary Zidek
