A virtual step into van Gogh’s life and paintings

A life-sized reproduction of Vincent van Gogh’s painting, “The Bedroom,” featured at “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” which runs through October 15 at 555 Center Dr. NW, Walker. (Courtesy)

By Thomas Hegewald, WKTV Contributing Writer

There is a room in the new “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” exhibit that contains a life-sized replica of his bedroom in the yellow house in Arles, France. It is life-sized so that you can step into the “scene,” or the painting itself.

This is just one of the immersive elements of the new exhibit of Vincent van Gogh. It’s a new way to enjoy his works and immerse yourself in the artist’s masterpieces in this high-tech, digital show that opened in Grand Rapids on July 22 and runs through October 15 at 555 Center Dr. NW.

Dutch history

Grand Rapids was selected for this immersive exhibit because of its Dutch heritage. John Zaller, executive producer at Exhibition Hub, hopes that attendees to the exhibit leave with a deeper appreciation of van Gogh, who was born in the Netherlands in 1853.

“The way we use tech is different than a museum’s approach,” Zaller explained. “Van Gogh’s work is approachable – filled with color and motion – it lends itself to a new interpretation.”

The exhibit is featured in 14 cities across the United States as well as in Europe. It has been touring since 2017, bringing in more than 5 million visitors, according to the website vangoghexpo.com

The 360-degree main gallery of the “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” features his painting, “The Starry Night.” The show opened in Grand Rapids on July 22 and runs through October 15 at 555 Center Dr. NW. (Courtesy)

Visitors (and participants) of the exhibit move at their own pace through a number of rooms, structured more like a gallery, with the pieces more accessible than in a museum.

“We feature pieces key to his story,” explained Zaller, when talking about which of van Gogh’s nearly 900 paintings to incorporate in the show.

And that story flows throughout the exhibit.

Color blindness effect

A documentary interprets van Gogh’s work and how he used color; explaining further that he had a color blindness, where he saw fewer colors and used brighter colors because of it. On the nearby walls hang canvas replicas of some of his paintings – in their actual size – so you can see the scale in which he worked.

Throughout the exhibit are panels containing background information about his family, themes in his work and color studies.

Complex emotions

Van Gogh’s struggle with mental illness, culminating in taking his own life, adds to the complex emotional undercurrent felt when looking at his work. His story, his style, his artwork are relatable and approachable.

In addition to stepping into life-size paintings, visitors are fully immersed in the largest gallery which features “360-degree floor-to-ceiling digital projection.” There are chairs and benches to sit on and experience a display that progresses before your eyes. Paintings come alive with moving elements and coordinating sound effects.

In one scene, white line drawings appear on a black background. And then colors flow into the drawing, filling in the objects until the darkness is overcome by color.

The VR Room

Just past this gallery is the VR (Virtual Reality) room where goggles are available to experience a 10-minute tour of van Gogh’s home studio, surrounding countryside and nearby town – as though walking through it. Specific scenes are presented with a frame and within the VR reality, that scene evolves into the painting that van Gogh created.

After all of this inspiration, you’re invited to select an outline of one of his pieces, color it in, scan it in and see it projected on a screen.

Extreme technology

While the main feature of this exhibit is works by Vincent van Gogh, the tech side of it relied on 30-40 digital artists who combined their talents to present his work in a variety of ways. The components of the exhibit filled six trailers and took three weeks to install, covering 30,000 square feet.