The traveling art exhibit “Beyond Van Gogh,” which opened on Wednesday, March 2, invites visitors to explore the paintings of renowned artist Vincent Van Gogh through a series of immersive video projections and audio recordings.
The exhibit, located in the Sawmill District near Old Town, consists of room-filling projections of Van Gogh’s paintings with digitally added movement and motion. The exhibit showcases over 300 of Van Gogh’s paintings, according to the “Beyond Van Gogh” website.
“Beyond Van Gogh” opens with background information on Van Gogh and his life, focusing much of its information on Van Gogh’s correspondences with his brother, Theo. The information is projected while Van Gogh’s paintings sit behind the text.
“This experience seeks, like the master himself, to start with something we know and to extend beyond what the eye can see,” reads one of the screens.
Once you enter the exhibit, you’re greeted with a large room with projectors on all four walls, the floor and on two pillars placed on opposite ends of the room. Viewers can walk up to the walls to get a closer look at the projections of the paintings or sit back and take in the large-scale renditions.
Moving elements are incorporated into the paintings, and the projections transition from well-known works, like “The Starry Night,” to self-portraits, rough sketches and quotes. Classical and jazz music plays throughout the experience with the occasional quote being interspersed among the music.
The exhibit saw success in Europe and other cities across the U.S. before coming to Albuquerque, and will be moved again to a number of different cities across the U.S. following its residency in Albuquerque. “Beyond Van Gogh” will be showing until Sunday, May 1.
John Scott is the managing editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JScott050901
