Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

For those of you who are serious fans of Vincent Van Gogh, this should be a mandatory addition to your personal bucket list. The Van Gogh Immersive Experience is a travelling show that portrays the works of Van Gogh in a manner never seen before. Images from Van Gogh's works are projected on four walls and the floor of an exhibition hall and they are animated, morph from one image to another and represent most of the major works of the artist. If you look at any single portrayed image you will definitely recognize it as Van Gogh or in the style of Van Gogh. It is an amazing, moving and yes, immersive experience. I would like to share with you some of my images made at a recent show. These images DO NOT do justice to the actual experience but will give you some idea of what you will actually see.

How does it work. This show is currently playing in 6 - 10 cities around the country and moves to a new cities every 6- 8 weeks. The exhibition hall is approximately 250 - 300 ft long and 80 - 100 ft wide with walls about 18 - 20 ft high. There are 2 or 3 support pillars in the middle of the room and about 25 or 30 2-person benches scattered about the hall. You are free to move them anywhere you like to see the presentation. Tickets are $50/person and they offer shows starting approx. every hour. The shows normally run from 1 - 5 PM, 3 to 5 days a week depending on the city. It appears that for $50, you get to watch a 1-hour show in a time slot of your choosing. What is really offered is a continuous, 35 minute show that repeats from opening time until closing. You can enter at anytime and stay as long as you like. I would recommend staying for at least 2 shows because the first time you see it, you can't anticipate what will happen. The second time you will know what is coming and can pay attention to the details of how it moves from one image to next and how images develop. Trust me, seeing it twice in a row is a good thing! They are developing another show based on the works of Claude Monet

This is the first image of Van Gogh based on one of his self-portraits. The candles on his hat flicker and the image moves.

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This is an animated depiction of Van Gogh's Irises. Van Gogh painted a series of paintings in the last year of his life. One sold recently for $54 million.

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This is a 6-panel image I made to show how the show sequences. First you see a black field and white lines are brushed on to reveal a room with a chair, color is then added until the image is complete. Think it's a room in his asylum

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Starry Night The star swirls and waves move as the image slides along the walls. Foreground change against this background.

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A geisha. Must admit I'm not familiar with this image but that is Van Gogh's plum tree on the easel.

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The Potato Eaters - This presentation explores all the individual elements of the painting then assembles them into the final painting.

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In this part of the show, a hand sweeps along the walls, wiping away one image and revealing the brushstrokes of an emerging painting in it's place. Some pictures have a black region either at the top or bottom. That's the ceiling and the floor.

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Crows in a corn field. The crows actually fly across the cornfield.

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Reminiscent of Van Gogh's Nite Cafe. The cafe in Arles was owned by Joseph-Michel Ginoux shown in white.

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This last image is a composite of four different self-portraits of Van Gogh from the show. The last is Vincent with his candle hat which closes the show.

(Download)

anotherview Loc: California

Years ago, I read a long biography of Vincent van Gogh. His struggle to produce his vision in his paintings inspired me. Thanks goodness his brother Theo believed in him and supported him.

OneShot1 Loc: Wichita, KS, USA

Thanks for the great write-up and pix. I need to find the nearest exhibit.

Laramie Loc: Tempe

A new show, Immersive Monet is on now alongside the Van Gogh show. The Phoenix Art Museum had a Monet show once, and it seemed the further away you were from the piece, the more sense it made. I wonder how immersive the Monet show might be.

J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

My wife and I experienced the exhibit yesterday. First things first. You did a great job of capturing alot of what we saw! I missed the Hand image.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Nice--I saw it earlier this year in Indianapolis.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Ava'sPapa Loc: Cheshire, Ct.

It's presently at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford until Oct.2nd. I hope to bring my granddaughter soon. It looks awesome!

(I just ordered tix for tomorrow for my wife, my granddaughter and me to experience Van Gogh. Thanks for the reminder :-)

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I am amazed at Van Gogh's diligence and commitment to his new style of painting. He only sold one picture in his entire life to his brother Theo. Even though he had mental issues, he spent considerable time in an asylum, he never doubted his work. If I were him, at some point I would have said "this just isn't working. Nobody likes my style. Maybe I should try a different way of painting" But he never doubted himself.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Thanks for commenting OneShot1. You can find locations by googling the title of this post. You won't regret it.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Thanks for the thumbs up Jack. I missed the show in Cleveland (got flooded out literally) and went to Columbus to see it.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Thanks for commenting FStop12. Sorry you missed the hand, it was very dramatic sweeping along the walls. Did you stay for more than one show? I missed a train running in one of the scenes and it was pointed out to me afterward. Never got a picture of it either and I took almost 300 images.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Thanks for commenting. I trust you enjoyed it. I've not heard a negative word about the show.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Thanks for the 3 thumbs up