'The right artist, the right time' for rival immersive van Gogh exhibits in New York

Record ID: 1620662

  • Title: 'The right artist, the right time' for rival immersive van Gogh exhibits in New York
  • Date: 10th June 2021
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) "IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH" CUSTOMER, GLADYS PIZARRO, SAYING: "Look at me, I'm trying to be cool, like, oh, no, no, but it's so emotional and I don't know, it just definitely hit me hard. But I enjoyed it, every minute. I saw it like three times." (SOUNDBITE) (English) "IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH" CUSTOMER, EMMA LIOLIOU, SAYING: "The music. And it was definitely a nice combination of his artwork and how it was nicely displayed. I've been to the one in Paris, so it measures up quite nicely." (SOUNDBITE) (English) "IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH" CUSTOMER, DANA GOLDBERG, SAYING: "It's unbelievable. I hope he's very happy in his grave, knowing that the whole world is enjoying his artwork."
  • Embargoed: 24th June 2021 18:33
  • Keywords: David Korins Fever Up Immersive Van Gogh Mario Iacampo Massimiliano Siccardi Van Gogh Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA006EGTHNWN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh's masterpieces have been brought to life in two new breathtaking exhibits in New York, both touting an 'immersive' experience.
    One is at Pier 36, a 70,000-square-foot facility located on Manhattan's Lower East Side called 'Immersive Van Gogh'; the other, 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience', is at 300 Vesey Street, a 30,000-square-foot space on the former trading floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
    But the similarly named rival exhibits are causing confusion.
    More than 400 complaints were posted on the Better Business Bureau about Fever, the ticket vendor for 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience'. Customers wanted tickets for 'Immersive Van Gogh' but mistakenly bought tickets for "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience."
    "We actually had an issue with our ticket because of that," said Xavier Rocha at the 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.' "Because we purchased that one, but we were here, so we ended up repurchasing."
    "Anybody that calls for a refund gets a refund with no questions asked," said Mario Iacampo, CEO of Exhibition Hub, an international entertainment producer and parent company for 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.'
    "We're not trying to create any confusion. We're very clear about what we are. We started it first. 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience' we started in 2017. The other one I think started in 2019. I think that speaks for itself."
    'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience' starts with a museum-like experience with panels on van Gogh's life, replicas of van Gogh's paintings, and 3D models of van Gogh's paintings of 'Bedroom in Arles' and 'Vestibule in the Asylum.'
    Visitors pull back a curtain and step into a 360-degree world of van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers and wheat fields set to composer Christopher Slaski's 'Sunlight.' A drawing studio comes after the immersive experience and an optional virtual reality (VR) experience guides the viewer through a 10-minute journey on 'A Day in the Life of the Artist in Arles', that includes some of van Gogh's most famous works like 'Bedroom in Arles', 'Starry Night', 'Wheatfield with Crows' and 'Starry Night Over the Rhône.'
    "It's two separate experiences," said Iacampo, on the difference between 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience' and 'Immersive Van Gogh.' "We have a very different approach where we like to show a complete exhibit. We have a lot of panels to introduce the artist to the people before the immersive part. Our immersive is really tailored to his paintings. We show over 350 of his paintings, over 200 of his sketches, so people can really get a feel of the breadth of his abilities."
    More than 200,000 tickets have been sold for 'Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience' in New York City, making it a sold-out show. Tickets start at $19.90 for children and $36 for adults. Tickets that include the VR experience are $34.90 for children and $54.50 for adults.
    'Immersive Van Gogh' has sold more than 250,000 tickets so far. Ticket prices range from $29.99 for children to $99.99 for VIP Flex tickets. Basic timed tickets are $49.99.
    'Immersive Van Gogh' at Pier 36 treated visitors to a visual spectacle as van Gogh's works floated, spun and transformed, with some works such as 'Iris' and 'Starry Night Over the Rhone' blooming and rippling before the viewer's eyes set to soaring and somber music like Édith Piaf's 'Non, je ne regrette rien' and Samuel Barber's 'Adagio for Strings.'
    The creative talents behind the show include Creator Massimiliano Siccardi, Creative Director New York David Korins and composer Luca Longobardi. Siccardi and Longobardi were the team behind the 'Van Gogh, Starry Night' exhibit in Paris's Atelier des Lumières in 2019.
    "Van Gogh was nothing if not misunderstood," said Korins. "He suffered from depression, he had anxiety, but really, he suffered from loneliness. And I think that we've all gone through this indelible, super intense thing. We're still, in many ways, going through it. And no matter where you were during the pandemic, as we creep out of our homes and our apartments into these first live events... I think we all can relate to that loneliness feeling. And there's something about... the kind of buoyancy and joy and the color palette that I think, it just feels so much like the right artist, the right time."
    (Production: Roselle Chen, Andrew Hofstetter)
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