Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience takes art to an entirely new level and it is currently stopped in Jacksonville for residents on the First Coast to enjoy.
According to Fanny Curtat, art historian and consultant to the creative team of Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, what makes the exhibit so unique and mind-blowing for attendees is the sheer scale of the project.
“It is a very enormous project, and it’s on a scale where we need at least 30,000 square feet or something around that for it to even happen,” Curtat said. “It is all about bringing these works to another scale. It takes a lot of people to make happen.”
The creation of the exhibit began in October 2020 and since spring 2021 the exhibit has been touring around North and South America with expansion to Europe and Asia in the works.
“It (Beyond Van Gogh) is really just growing and growing and we’re at 4 million tickets sold,” Curtat said. “We knew we had something great at the beginning, but nobody expected for it to just snowball into this incredible phenomenon that’s really bringing people and communities together.”
Cutting-edge technology includes a state-of-the-art projection system which allows various works of art to be shown throughout the space, allowing attendees to essentially walk through the painting.
“Through the help of some amazing people, we are able to blend cutting-edge technology with Vincent’s work,” Curtat said. “When we come a city it takes about a little more than a week for them to set everything up.”
The exhibit is the first to be shown at the new Immersive Art Space located at 712 N. Hogan St. in Downtown Jacksonville, which hopes to bring other immersive experiences to the area.
It has gained so much interest since its arrival on the First Coast, that the exhibit has extended its stay in the area until through Nov. 27. It had originally been slated to stay up to Nov. 6.
The reason for such interest goes back to the immersive aspect that it entails, which separates it from a typical art exhibit.
“There’s just something that you can’t replicate about being inside of a painting,” Curtat said. “There’s a certain energy about it.”
According to Curtat, art naturally brings out various unique emotions for people, so making it immersive only makes those emotions even more real.
“Everybody comes to this exhibit with their own expectations, so you have very different reactions to what they witness,” Curtat said. Some people are even moved to tears because they feel such an emotional connection with this artist that is so personable and that we know so much about. Vincent was such a charismatic figure on top of being a great artist, and all of those elements really come together.”
Capturing those raw emotions and making people feel passionate about the artwork their viewing was one of the goals behind creating such an immersive experience.
“What’s important is that whatever interpretation they give to his work is valid, because it is what they will have projected and seen within it,” Curtat said. “For some people museums can be intimidating, so this can serve as a bridge for that.”
