Splayed onto the walls of a spacious room, Van Gogh’s colorful paintings moved from the walls to vividly appear on the floor. Classical music accompanied the massive moving canvases as visitors of “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” in Honolulu looked around with smiles on their faces.
Shantall Morales, a senior majoring in psychology from Mexico, said, “You’re getting the whole experience, [including] the meaning behind his paintings and how he turned his pain into beauty. It allows you to enjoy his art.”
In the heart of an oddity
Gabriela Amaller, a senior majoring in business management and cultural anthropology from Canada, said she visited the exhibit. She shared the experience helped her get to know the artist better and dive deep into his story. She said the exhibit gave her “a little glimpse into his mind, the genius behind the paintings.”
Katie Mower, a BYUH alumna from Idaho who visited the exhibit twice, said prior to walking through the room-sized artwork, the visitor is led down a hallway that contains quotes and anecdotes about Van Gogh’s life. The quotes prepare visitors for the immersive experience, she added.
“I loved reading about his life and the thoughts he had. I think people can resonate a lot with him and who he was. For example, he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. He thought about being a preacher, he tried being an art dealer, but in the end, he chose art because he loved it so much.”
Mower explained Van Gogh, despite his genius and innovative use of color, never knew his own success and only sold one painting in his lifetime. “He lived poor and wasn’t a rich man by any means, but he pursued [art] anyway. … He failed at a lot of things, and yet he is what he is today because he kept on trying and kept on painting.”
She said when walking through the hallway, one quote by Van Gogh stood out to her: “What am I in the eyes of most people? A nonentity or an oddity or a disagreeable person– someone who has and will have no position in society. In short, a little lower than the lowest. Very well– assuming that everything is indeed like that, then through my work, I’d like to show what there is in the heart of such an oddity, such a nobody.”
Knowing Van Gogh’s story and his thoughts about his life helped her gain a deeper appreciation of his art, Mower said. “He had really big problems with mental health, from severe depression to going to an asylum to ending his life at age 37. Still, he created so much beauty, with which so many people fell in love with and admire today.”
Mower added Van Gogh painted two to three paintings a day, filling them with his own emotions, such as anger, fear, joy and love. She said Van Gogh’s life has taught her it’s important for people to do what they love. According to the Van Gogh gallery website, Van Gogh painted almost 900 paintings in less than 10 years.
Amaller said while reading about his life and the pain he felt, she felt as if he was misunderstood in his time. “I got really emotional when, in one of his quotes, he said he just wanted to paint the beauty in the world. I remember feeling his pain, that he felt like an outcast. I think everything that came after in the exhibit built off of what I felt in that moment about him. What he felt. That’s what prepared me to see his art in a different light.”
Immersing into his paintings
Amaller explained after walking through the hallway and reading about Van Gogh’s life, the visitor is led into a spacious room where his paintings come alive.
The Beyond Van Gogh website says experiencing Van Gogh’s art at the exhibit helps people appreciate his art in a new way. “Using his dreams, his thoughts and his words to drive the experience as a narrative, we move along projection swathed walls wrapped in light, color and shapes that swirl, dance and refocus into flowers, cafes and landscapes.
“Masterpieces, now freed from frames, come alive, appear and disappear, flow across multi-surfaces, the minutia of details titillating our heightened senses. Through his own words set to a symphonic score, we may come to a new appreciation of this tortured artist’s stunning work.”
Mower said while being immersed into his paintings, one moment stood out to her because she remembered reading a quote that said Van Gogh felt most alive at night. “When one of his night paintings appeared, and the whole room was shifted into a warm, dark navy blue, I felt like I was there at that harbor. I was feeling the energy that came from the light [of the stars]. That’s what Van Gogh felt, and he captured it through his colors and brush strokes.”
She added she always resonated with the same feeling at night and the sense of liveliness. “It was really interesting to see he could capture the same emotions in the late 1800s I feel today at night.”
Another moment Mower said caught her attention was the portrayal of his almond tree painting. “All the petals of the blossoms fall off the tree and circle around the room, and the music goes along with it. [I] could see the detail in his work, and obviously he didn’t create it like that, but it brought his work to life even more. As the leaves are falling, it [immersed me] in what he might have felt as he created that. The music supports the experience.”
Morales said this particular almond tree painting is one Van Gogh painted when his nephew was born. “All the feelings of tenderness, joy and love are being portrayed by looking at his painting and underlined by the music and the movement while standing in the exhibition.”
She added at one point during the immersive experience, she learned Van Gogh found beauty in every little thing, and the faces of the people he painted started to appear all over the surfaces around her. “That hit me so much because God’s greatest creation is his children. … Sometimes [people’s minds are] so involved in unnecessary things that [they’re] missing the best of this life.”
Morales said the exhibition made her think of all the people she loves in her life and how much happiness they bring her. “I went out of this exhibition more grateful and thinking, ‘I need to be closer to the people around me and enjoy the beauty they bring to my life.’”
The magic in putting pen to paper
After leaving the exhibition, Amaller said she wanted to pick up painting, drawing and writing poetry. “Art is so important because it makes us more sensitive and opens and broadens our perspective of different eras. It enriches our lives. I feel inspired to be more creative.”
Although Amaller studies business and said she focuses on analytical things, she added she believes developing her creative side is important too. She said she could relate to Van Gogh’s pain and his using art as an outlet.
“I’ve definitely been there before. I’ve never been to a madhouse, but [I have felt] misunderstood [and gone] through painful experiences. For me, it is poetry that helps me cope. … There’s something magical that happens when you pick up a pen or a pencil and you start drawing or writing.”
Amaller said she encourages people to go to art exhibitions to support art and culture. •