VAN GOGH ALIVE

The Van Gogh Alive exhibition is a must-see and unlike any other show you have seen. Instead of a traditional art gallery, where you walk around through different rooms viewing artworks on walls, this experience is all in one huge warehouse room with many towering digital screens surrounding...

The Van Gogh Alive exhibition is a must-see and unlike any other show you have seen.

Instead of a traditional art gallery, where you walk around through different rooms viewing artworks on walls, this experience is all in one huge warehouse room with many towering digital screens surrounding you on all sides.

I have been waiting in anticipation to see this and it did not disappoint.

As soon as you first step inside, you are immediately captivated by the vast projections and beautiful soundscapes.

The visual journey follows a loose chronological story and holds viewers until its crescendo with Starry Night.

The presentation shows a timeline of the artist’s life through his most infamous pieces, in a beguiling demonstration which goes through the works of his tormented life, paired with quotes from Van Gogh himself that will bring tears to your eyes.

This exhibit is such an insightful and interesting experience, which is truly enlightening of the prolific painter’s life.

Finding new ways to introduce established art to new patrons in today’s fast-paced and technology-driven world can be a challenge. I think Van Gogh Alive is an exciting way to do this. Van Gogh Alive is a multisensory experience which will appeal to all ages and at the...

Finding new ways to introduce established art to new patrons in today’s fast-paced and technology-driven world can be a challenge.

I think Van Gogh Alive is an exciting way to do this.

Van Gogh Alive is a multisensory experience which will appeal to all ages and at the opening night, we joined babies to seniors and all ages in between in being the first in Brisbane to enter into Van Gogh’s world.

Instagrammers will particularly love the many opportunities for capturing the perfect photo in the Starry Night room before entering the main gallery and the Sunflower room upon exiting.

However, for me, the main area of the experience is in the SENSORY4™ Gallery where a 45-minute video plays on loop taking you through some of Van Gogh’s most famous works as well as moments from his life.

Animations and classical music along with quotes from Van Gogh are cleverly curated to create mood and stir emotions and it moves along at a pace which keeps you interested whilst allowing you to soak in the beauty of his works.

Walking throughout the space between the huge screens and the projections on the floor and taking time out by sitting on the bench seats allows you to interact with the projections and become a part of the exhibition.

Art should be accessible to all and Van Gogh Alive is a contemporary way of allowing the viewer to immerse themselves literally into the works of Van Gogh whether they know his work or not.

My advice; take your time to fully immerse yourself in the experience to get the most from it.

I will be going back for a second viewing.

Admittedly, I have had some difficulty figuring out how I would feel about the Van Gogh Alive experience, swinging greatly between loving it and being unsure about it, trying to imagine what Vincent Van Gogh himself would think and wondering if having one’s works being shown in such...

Admittedly, I have had some difficulty figuring out how I would feel about the Van Gogh Alive experience, swinging greatly between loving it and being unsure about it, trying to imagine what Vincent Van Gogh himself would think and wondering if having one’s works being shown in such a commercial way, in a manner he could never have imagined, would feel like a success or failure, as a deeply thinking, introspective artist.

The experience itself was supposedly inspired by one man’s visit to the Louvre and his child’s reaction; saying the gallery was boring, and some music would help. This led to a rethink by the makers of this experience about how we appreciate art, and so Van Gogh Alive was born; attempting to be a way to show these masterpieces to those who may not appreciate the finer details of an art gallery, to welcome those who find galleries and all that comes with the world of art as stuffy or pretentious, or at the very least, slightly uncomfortable.

In this ‘gallery’, one enters a large darkened space and is surrounded by giant projections of Van Gogh’s work, quotes from some of the hundreds of letters he wrote and sent during his life (often under-appreciated, in my humble opinion) and presented with a soundtrack of beautiful pieces of classical music to match the works. It’s an impressive feeling, being completely and totally surrounded by art, faced with images of brushstrokes bigger than yourself, details magnified to a size that Van Gogh would have never made himself and if one is willing, it’s easy to thoroughly immerse yourself, to begin to live Van Gogh’s life through his work, letting the music create goosebumps and allowing the paint, the colours, shadows and shapes to let your mind wander to another time and place, and then right back home again.

So there is the thing about this exhibition. It’s not about how the art is presented that makes this experience what it is; it is the art itself. Without Van Gogh’s view on the world and his ability to express that through pen and paint, this would not be the same experience. Whether one encounters Van Gogh’s work on a postcard, in a book, on the wall in a very quiet gallery or projected into a giant screen in a darkened room with a soundtrack at full volume doesn’t really matter; the point is that the viewer is moved, in any way, negative or positive, by pieces of art. If one walks away from Van Gogh Alive questioning the experience, then the art itself has done its work. If one walks away simply having had an experience, good or bad, then the art served its purpose. If one walks away with a little more curiosity as to who Van Gogh is, then that ultimately makes the art a success, regardless of how it is presented. I would hope that one of Van Gogh’s quotes gives us an indication as to how he would feel about his work being presented in such a new way;

“I can’t change the fact that my paintings don’t sell. But the time will come when people will recognise that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture”.

I hope that Mr Van Gogh would be pleasantly surprised, and impressed by his work being used in such a way, in any way, to move and inspire. I certainly was.

As you leave the car park, you enter the Cafe Terrace at Night and you are transported to another world, an artist's world. You gaze up at Almond Blossoms and across to the Bedroom in Arles. Then, you will read about the different stages of Van Gogh's life,...

As you leave the car park, you enter the Cafe Terrace at Night and you are transported to another world, an artist’s world. You gaze up at Almond Blossoms and across to the Bedroom in Arles.

Then, you will read about the different stages of Van Gogh’s life, artistic and personal, before moving into the extraordinary room that has floor to ceiling images projected 360 degrees onto varying sizes of screens. At once, they will captivate you and you will forget the outside world entirely.

The exhibition takes around 45 mins but you could easily spend over an hour there. We did, just talking and gazing. There are a few bench seats and I recommend moving around to view the works from different angles. There are 3 large floor areas with projections and when you are close you feel like the floor is moving. At one point it showed a time-lapse video of flowers blooming. This particular set of images didn’t fit well for me, beautiful as it was, as all other images were sketches or paintings.

The classical soundtrack is stunning and you will recognise some of the music including Delibes’ exquisite Flower Duet from Lakme. I will be playing this soundtrack regularly to take me back into Van Gogh’s world and mind.

The exhibition is mesmerising, enchanting, peaceful, calming and emotional.

It’s not a black to white exit thankfully – your last stop is the sunflower garden. My friend and I both felt a strange, warped sense of sight with the blurry mirrors not unlike those in a magic mirror house. The light colours of the ceiling were in absolute contrast to the stunning yellow and green of the flowers.

Your senses will be so happy and you will love it.

It doesn't really matter whether you're a long-time lover of Vincent van Gogh's artworks or a first-timer to his masterpieces. This mesmerising experience is a feast of colour, exploration and enchantment. It's also a deep dive into Van Gogh's soul and an opportunity to better understand the man...

It doesn’t really matter whether you’re a long-time lover of Vincent van Gogh’s artworks or a first-timer to his masterpieces.

This mesmerising experience is a feast of colour, exploration and enchantment.

It’s also a deep dive into Van Gogh’s soul and an opportunity to better understand the man behind the art.

I was surprised at the size of this mobile exhibition space and just how enthralling the visual presentation is.

It’s a place to wander, ponder and play.

I walked away with a whole new perspective of this incredible artist.

Highly recommend a visit.

Vincent Van Gogh born 1853, died 1890, resurrected 2021? Having toured the world and reported to have had over 7 million visitors across 65 countries, the Van Gogh Alive experience has made it to Brisbane’s Hamilton Northshore. Experience is an important word here and I can see why...

Vincent Van Gogh born 1853, died 1890, resurrected 2021?

Having toured the world and reported to have had over 7 million visitors across 65 countries, the Van Gogh Alive experience has made it to Brisbane’s Hamilton Northshore. Experience is an important word here and I can see why they used it. This is not an exhibition of Van Gogh’s work, more a captivating well-wrought impression of his work, but can it be enjoyed without irony?

When entering the impressive custom-built building that will house the experience in Brisbane for the next 2 months one’s eye is immediately drawn to large panel prints of Almond Blossoms (1890) suspended from the ceiling. As you begin to take in the room you’ll see a spotlit Lexus and an impressive 3D rendering of The Bedroom (1888) and some quotes from Van Gogh printed white on black in bold text adorning the walls. This holding area prior to the experience space also houses the cafe/bar and inevitable gift shop.

Next is the Interpretive Area, set like a traditional museum or gallery; lighted panels give some relatively brief information on some of his most famous works. The less you know about Van Gogh the more you will likely benefit from this although I think it likely that most will skip this as they will be hungry to head on into the main area. Moving on into an antechamber with mirrored walls, hanging fairy lights and The Starry Night (1889) ceiling, one’s anticipation starts to really build. This room is certainly fun and is exactly what I would expect for a production like this. If one was to be cynical one may believe that it was designed, like The Bedroom rendering, to be “Insta worthy”. Myself and my date both briefly believed that we were experiencing the first of the promised fragrances but decided what we could actually smell was new plastic probably from the fairy lights. At no point did either of us notice any fragrance that would have been intended to enhance our experience.

Scale was the first thing that struck me when entering the principal area. Huge canvas-style screens are set around the walls and used as partitions, similar canvases on the floor and popular classical music piped crystal clear through an engulfing sound system. It is worth noting that the playlist has been uploaded to Spotify so you can find it there should you desire. The experience is played on a loop of about 35 minutes. If you arrive half way through, which you almost certainly will, take some time to wander the room, let it soak into you, allow yourself to be immersed and look for a place to sit whether that be on a chair or the floor for when it loops back to the beginning then sit and watch it from beginning to end. Loosely biographical, Van Gogh’s art is projected all around you, some works in full, others are close up, snapshots if you will of pieces. Some have been altered, animated to bring them Alive. There are also Van Gogh quotes projected onto the massive canvas screens although while still white on black they are now presented in a cursive script that if one is not looking directly at them makes them particularly hard to read. If Van Gogh had Instagram is this what it would have looked like? The sample of his impressive body of work shown of course includes the most famous, but also a good representation of works for which he is less known. During the experience I was engrossed and taken along a wonderful journey, it was thoroughly enjoyable and I would recommend it. It is a seamless, impressive, extremely well produced highly commercialised exposition. Afterwards, though a certain uneasiness set in which I struggled to pin down.

The final part of the experience is the Immersive Sunflower Room and we are immediately back to appeasing the social media monster that now lives inside so many of us. A fairly small room made to feel much bigger with the use of mirrors. You are transported into a field of plastic sunflowers that I challenge you not to take a selfie in. A fitting ending to an enjoyable yet somewhat unsettling journey.

I wonder if a highly commercialised product that uses a not commercially successful (in his lifetime) artist’s work seemingly without irony is morally sound. I fear that the projections of work miss the nuance of intended scale and texture. I worry that the sponsors feature heavily both in the building and on the website, and yet the names of the artists, directors, writers, sound engineers and animators that made the whole thing come to life are absent and as unappreciated as Vincent himself was during his life.

Did I enjoy Van Gogh Alive? Yes, very much so. Will I go again before it wraps up? Almost certainly. Should you go? Yes without doubt, only the most snobby of art-loving purists are not going to enjoy this.

To steal from Banksy, don’t forget to exit through the gift shop.

Reviews

A unique immersive experience

A multi-sensory experience that transports you inside the paintings

Art, in every way an experience

A captivating and serene experience

Gogh check this out - you won't be disappointed

Van Gogh Alive galleries reinvented or fine art from the Instagram generation?

Summary

VAN GOGH ALIVE