A van Gogh Explosion Shakes Up the Windy City

You don’t ordinarily think of an art event as bracing but that’s the first impression you get when you walk into Immersive van Gogh; a new breed of art display now in residence on Germania Place in Old Town.  An entertainment hybrid presented by Lighthouse Immersive, Inc., the van Gogh show is the first of a series of similar programs the organization plans to offer in its new Germania Club home. With its use of sophisticated, high-powered digital video projection, the van Gogh project could be considered as much a production as an exhibition. One that turns out to be a visual carnival ride and a plunge into genius all at once.  

After getting your temperature checked, listening to the greeter’s explanation of how to navigate the space and gliding through a set of white curtains, there’s an unexpected initial jolt. The surge of color and movement is intense, and even though it’s short lived, a little disorienting.  This is no museum where the vibe is somber, static and still.  Here the marriage of high art and video wizardry result in lavish moving spectacle.

The element of scale and the choice of van Gogh as the subject artist insure this show reaches its climb to wonder. Premiering last summer in Toronto, you can only imagine what Immersive van Gogh may have looked like covering over 600,000 cubic feet on 50’ foot high walls.  The space was so big you could drive in and watch the show from your car.   Old Town’s Germania Club may not sprawl in the same way, but it’s great room with adjacent galleries and balcony easily convey a sense of awe as huge images of van Gogh’s spectacular artwork float around you.

Immersive van Gogh’s Artistic Creator, Massimiliano Siccardi, is also listed as co-artist with van Gogh in Lighthouse Immersive’s publications and has cited several objectives he hopes to achieve through the production.  Most center on enabling the public to gain a renewed appreciation for art and van Gogh.  This show certainly does both.  But another approach would be to enter this homage to van Gogh’s remarkable artistic talent by keeping his own words in mind. “I dream my paintings and I paint my dreams.”  That confession may help explain some of the surprise you sense when first entering the exhibition. The longer you’re in the space, the more you feel you’ve stepped into a private world of undulating moods and colors usually found in the domain of dreams.  Some are simply stunningly vibrant and beautiful as they fill 35’ walls.  Others are dark and contemplative.  They all slowly churn, the beautiful and the haunting, the vividly colorful and the somber in a cauldron of images that appear and disappear.  Some are brought to life through animation, like van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Crows.  It’s one of the artist’s most famous works made more poignant because some scholars consider it to be his suicide note.  The melancholy impact of the crows in active flight can be attributed to the sensitivity and skill of Mr. Siccardi and his artistic team.  Through motion, they’ve extended the tone of open sorrow in the original work and made it real.  That same level of insight and awareness can be seen and felt throughout the production. 

Made up of curated and original compositions, the musical foundation supporting the show is lush, deep and the handiwork of composer Luca Longobardi.  Although classical is well represented, there’s a wide variety of musical influences anchored in the present and peer into the future that make the score a wonderful complement to the show’s vibrancy and beauty.

Running in approximately one hour loops, it’s unlikely you’ll walk in exactly when a cycle begins.  After watching the credits, you can catch up on what you might have missed by waiting and discovering what preceded your arrival.  Because transitions are relatively fast, you may even decide to watch another cycle in its entirety to fully savor pieces of the production that you find particularly powerful or interesting.  The show’s treatment of van Gogh’s first declared masterpiece, The Potato Eaters, is exceptional. It also adds credence to the notion that the immersive perception works best in low light.  Gaining that same sense of depth in brighter/higher light seems to be a slight challenge.

Seating within digital social distancing circles on the main floor can be provided on request. The balcony overlooking the exhibition’s great room does offer limited seating and affords a satisfying level of intimacy and privacy to the experience. 

Immersive van Gogh

Through Sept 6, 2021

Lighthouse Artspace Chicago

108 W. Germania Place

Chicago, IL  60610

For more information and tickets, visit:  https://www.vangoghchicago.com/