By: Emily Von Buttlar
Executive Features Editor
The van Gogh Exhibit first started in Chicago, and it was brought to Hollywood Feb. 11. It’s a bright, immersive experience that pulls the viewer into the projected animation of Vincent van Gogh’s life through his paintings and art style. Projectors steadily reproduced the details of van Gogh’s painting, from bright gold fields of wheat in “Arles” to the swirling, mystical, dark blues of his famous “The Starry Night.”
Lighthouse Los Angeles, previously the Amoeba music building, hosted the largest van Gogh exhibition with a 55,000 square foot building, the walls painted the picture of Vincent van Gogh’s life with each projected stroke. Massimiliano Siccardi created this installation, showcasing “Mangeurs de pommes de terre”, 1885 (The Potato Eaters), the “Nuit etoilee”, 1889 (Starry Night), “Les Tournesols” 1888 (Sunflowers) and La Chambre a coucher, 1889 (The Bedroom) among many more pieces of van Gogh’s work.
Luca Longobardi, an Italian entrepreneur, a venture capitalist and an investment banker, composed the soundtrack for L.A.’s immersive van Gogh Exhibit. Vittorio Guidotti helped create the animations for this display; he also worked with Siccardi previously where they created multiple video projections in Rome for the National Dance Academy.
The van Gogh exhibition is currently available to see in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Settle, Washington D.C. in the United States and Antwerp, Berlin, Leicester, London and York throughout Europe. The first exhibition was created in 2017, and since then there have been over 650,000 visitors around the world who have been able to be immersed in van Gogh’s life through his original art.
The van Gogh exhibit is one of the 90 shows Exhibition Hub curates, produces and distributes around the world. Colm Feore, an acclaimed Stratford actor, performed the voice over of the behind-the-scenes of L.A.’s spectacle.
David Korins, Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated designer, sculpted Lighthouse Los Angeles. His set designs are also featured in “Hamilton,” and “Dear Evan Hansen,” using individual elements to bring together the story. Surrounded by sunflowers, visitors can sit down at one of David Korin’s installations, “The Sunflower Bar.” He also created a 16’ x 16’ hand-carved self-portrait of van Gogh.
Over 200 of van Gogh’s pieces were featured, the paintings dancing across the walls, covering the walls, floors and gliding across the faces of the viewers. There was one smaller long screen where viewers could stand on the second level to see the room as a whole. Large poles were placed around the room, with mirrors to consistently display the art.
An additional room connected to the larger room portrayed a small sculpture that warped the colors in a circular motion, which closely mimicked van Gogh’s painting style. The virtual experience went on for approximately 35 minutes, having no beginning or end; instead, it displayed a semi-consistent stream for the visitors.
The first room featured “The Sunflower Bar,” the hand-crafted van Gogh portrait. This portrait featured a giant Hollywood sign with a van Gogh-style painting of the rolling hills; this is a tree-like sculpture depicting his writings and four of van Goh’s framed writings, “The Seasons of Vincent van Gogh.”
The virtual and auditory experience was filled with color, emotions and a smooth connectivity of the strokes depicting van Goghs life.
Tickets are currently available for L.A.’s exhibition on vangoghexpo.com.
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