Immersive Van Gogh Comes to Los Angeles

 

In a venue that has seen many great works of art, mostly audio and some live (I’m thinking back to the mind boggling Paul McCartney show I saw there with my daughter), a truly innovative work of art will be opening at the former site of Amoeba Music on July 31.

Immersive Van Gogh is touching down in Los Angeles, and a new block of tickets have been made available.

The exhibit’s highly anticipated LA opening comes on the heels of massively successful launches in Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco and New York with more than 2 million tickets sold to the original Immersive Van Gogh since its launch in July 2020.

The immersive experience brings the life and works of post-impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh to life.

I had the opportunity to speak with Ross Corey, the immersive producer. Corey described how the Dutch painter’s work is now in the public domain, but getting access to hi-res images for use in this production was crucial to the artistic quality of the presentation.

As a result, the production encompasses 400 images that were licensed from galleries around the world. Corey spoke about the refraction and reflection of the images.

“Think about a music DJ, who samples across sources and assembles the elements into a musical piece,” Corey said. “The deconstruction and reconstruction of these images is the result.”

There is a narrative element to the production. “What did Van Gogh have flashing in his mind before he died,” wonders Corey. The team that put together Immersive Van Gogh tried to establish a stream of consciousness that blends the artist’s psychology with a loose narrative.

Corey describes it as “a combination of an art exhibit, a film, and experiential entertainment. It is a medium where the public moves through the art, in 360 degrees.”

The creative team digitally maps the interior architecture of each building. Hence, each installation is unique. Corey cautions against thinking this is like a touring show, rather it is more like a renovation of each building. He described adding fiber optics, washrooms and refinishing surfaces.

I wonder if I will recognize where we stood when McCartney played in the space.

In terms of the fiber optics added for each installation, Corey indicated that “in NYC the amount of fiber optics would stretch from Statue of Liberty to Harlem and back. Three times.”

As we wound up our chat, Corey observed that the isolation of Van Gogh echoes for all of us in the last year. “This is the first artistic experience coming out of Covid. It is a new artistic medium, which often doesn’t happen in one’s life. A concert, an art gallery, a film, a musical has each remained a consistent medium for decades. This is a new medium.”

 

Tickets available here or call 844-307-4644

 

 

 

 

 


Brad Auerbach has been a journalist and editor covering the media, entertainment, travel and technology scene for many years. He has written for Forbes, Time Out London, SPIN, Village Voice, LA Weekly and early in his career won a New York State College Journalism Award.

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