The famous "Starry Night" is projected around the audience. Photo by Carlee Rizzo.
The Beyond Van Gogh exhibit is unlike any other; it is a completely immersive experience. “The sunflowers, starry night… these pieces became so iconic and that’s what really has attracted people to the Van Gogh exhibit,” said Debbie Reinward, the media relations specialist for the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center. People come for these pieces of artwork but stay because of the experience.
The Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center is presenting the Beyond Van Gogh exhibit in their facility. Tickets are being sold online at www.vangoghanchorage.com and questions regarding ticketing can be found on the website.
Beyond Van Gogh is a multimedia exhibit. You are introduced to the exhibit by light panels that take you through Van Gogh’s life including history, journal entries, and quotes. After learning about the artist, you enter a room with Van Gogh’s artwork projected against the walls and the floor. Accompanying these projections is a musical score and together they run in a 40 minute loop.
When I attended the event, people were sitting on the floor, children were dancing with the artwork, and others brought camp chairs to take in this swirling tapestry of Van Gogh’s work.
People make the experience their own even if they are surrounded by people. It is true that you feel as though you are in a different place. It is a place where the rest of the world fades away and you are just there for that moment.
In Reinward’s experience, she saw people sitting on the floor, laying on the floor and even an older couple dancing. “The combination of the beautiful art [supplemented by the music]just kind of takes you to a different place; it really does.”
If you go to the exhibit, I encourage you to take the time and read all of the history posted. It helps bring you into Van Gogh’s world. It explains the story, and then when you watch all his artwork projected against the walls and the floors, it's almost as if you are watching the artist himself at work.
Reinward encourages viewers to take note of all the self-portraits that Van Gogh painted. She said, “The reason he did so many self-portraits was not because he was consumed by himself, but because [artists] had to pay their models, and he couldn’t afford to pay models, so he was doing different self-portraits.”
Van Gogh is now a renowned artist known across the world, and his artwork is being displayed in one of the most creative ways in this exhibit. Don’t miss your chance to see the Better Business Bureau’s highest rated experience. The Beyond Van Gogh exhibit is only here until September 22, 2022.
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