In Toronto (Canada) the digital art show “Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit” gives visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in fascinating projections that animate the brushstrokes, details, and colors of the painter and some of his most iconic works, from the sunny landscapes and night scenes to its portraits and still lifes.
“Step inside Van Gogh” has never been so literal. Since the COVID emergency, art shows have been at risk. However, this proposal is one of the few that has been quickly adapted thanks to the inclusion of virtual circles to maintain social distance and the possibility of arriving and entering the exhibition by car! (Gogh by car).
This type of proposal where the show and the staging are predominant forces the question about the profundity of the experience. Is it superficial to approach an artist’s work in this way? Isn’t an expanded audience what many cultural institutions seek?
It is a different way of meeting art. Production corresponds to Starvox Entertainment and Show One Productions. The artistic direction is in charge of Massimiliano Siccardi who together with Luca Longobardi (composer) achieves this exhibition made up of projections and enveloping music.
We spoke with Natalia Causada Calo, an Argentine doctor based in Canada who visited the exhibition and shared her experience with us:
“Although we were in a group, it seemed like an individual experience, since once you get inside, the show encompasses you, and you are abstracted from the rest. The building has a part that you can see from above, however to me it seemed more impressive from below because you find yourself between high walls that rise with your eyes. It is a compelling show, with many hyper stimuli. You cannot concentrate on everything at the same time since many things happen simultaneously. It’s more like a show, very well done, well thought out, closely linked to music, with images that appear and disappear and overlap, certain parts are attenuated, they are animated, that seemed interesting to me. Although it does not focus on knowing the artist’s history, something positive is that you see the detail of the painting in a way that you don’t see it in the Museum because you can’t get that close. ”
The exhibition includes the works “The Potato Eaters” (Mangeurs de pommes de terre / The Potato Eaters, 1885) the famous “Starry Night” (La nuit étoilée / Starry Night, 1889), “The Sunflowers” ??(Les Tournesols / Sunflowers , 1888), and “The bedroom in Arles” (La Chambre à coucher / The Bedroom, 1889).
The playful element is essential to understand the success of the exhibition. Feeling included in what is happening becomes fundamental. As if we were small and saw excessively large flowers or as if the sun was rising. Success lies in the possibility of thinking about other possible places, get out of reality. Enjoyment becomes central: letting yourself be dazzled and taking a part of this artist, who thrill us despite the time.
