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‘Beyond Van Gogh’ opens Feb. 1 on Cloverdale Fairgrounds

Audience ‘will literally set foot in his paintings’
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‘Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience’ opens on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds Feb. 1. (Photo submitted: Beyond Van Gogh)

Starry Night and other famous works of Vincent Van Gogh will be front and centre at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds at the beginning of February.

“Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” opens its four-and-a-half week run Feb. 1 in the Agriplex.

The show will feature hundreds of Van Gogh’s greatest works. They will all be displayed in a larger-than-life format as “cutting-edge” projection tech will turn the Agriplex into a massive canvas.

Fanny Curtat, an art history consultant for the show, told the Cloverdale Reporter “Beyond Van Gogh” is about blending projection technology with Van Gogh’s body of works to achieve something that will enrapture show-goers.

“The show allows the audience to experience his work differently,” said Curtat. “They will literally set foot in his paintings.”

She said the show was conceived as a way to provide a different point of view and a different experience to many of Van Gogh’s paintings.

“It was never about replacing a museum experience—there is nothing like the magic of an original Van Gogh, the aura of being in front of one—but there is something really phenomenal about being able to step into a Van Gogh painting,” added Curtat.

SEE ALSO: ‘Beyond Van Gogh’ coming to Cloverdale Fairgrounds

She said “Beyond Van Gogh” aims to provide a different access point into the artworld. She said the format welcomes the casual artlover, the serious Van Gogh fan, and the never-art person.

“Whether people already know a lot about Van Gogh, like me, then (the show’s) about experiencing the work you know and love from the inside, or whether people don’t know anything about him and for whom museums might be a bit intimidating, then (the show’s) about providing a really interesting way of connecting with Vincent and understanding why he’s still timeless and interesting and relevant for a 21st Century audience.”

Curtat said the scale of the works will offer a wow factor that is hard to comprehend unless standing in front of one of the images.

“If you’ve seen one of the originals in a museum, or in a reproduction in a book, when you see it surrounding you on the wall and the floor, you react to it differently,” she explained. “When you have a painting in front of you, you lean up to it. It’s a closer experience. But when it surrounds you, you enter it, you see brushstrokes that are as big as you and you can appreciate it all the more.”

Curtat said the whole experience is accompanied by a contemporary soundtrack.

“Music plays an enormous role,” she explained. “We don’t have text that tells you what’s happening, but we have quotes from Vincent that are spoken in French, English, and Dutch by men, women, and children.”

She said the idea is to share some of his words to add the experience for the show-goer all while music plays in the background “carrying” the images as people immerse themselves in the large-scale exhibit.

“There is value to his art that still applies today although the context is widely different than the one in which the art was created,” added Curtat. “It really showcases how Vincent is still relevant.”

“Beyond Van Gogh” is set to run for just over a month from Feb. 1 to March 5 in the Agriplex on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. Showtimes will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday to Thursday, and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Prices start at $31.99 for adults and $23.99 for children (ages 5-15).

For more information, or to buy tickets, visit vangoghsurrey.com. The Agriplex is located at 17798 62nd Avenue.



editor@cloverdalereporter.com

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Malin Jordan

About the Author: Malin Jordan

Malin is the editor of the Cloverdale Reporter.
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