Review: Beyond Van Gogh, Exhibition Centre Liverpool, Saturday 29th June 2024
Van Gogh; a hero as tragic as Hamlet. Tortured genius, misunderstood and ridiculed at the time for his weird work (thick impasto brushstrokes and paintings of peasants and nature did not go down well with the art world), a man who was plagued with mania and madness, who eventually committed suicide selling only one painting during his life. But when you look at his work (and I urge you to do this, it’s all online, or better still, actually SEE it, it’s mind-blowing), you can see the sheer joy he felt when he painted.
Van Gogh is probably the most famous and recognisable painter of modern times, and this does nothing to diminish his absolute brilliance. Why? Because his soul is right there on the canvas. His work is everlasting and has the power to touch every person who sees it.
I had no idea there was more than one Van Gogh ‘immersive’ exhibition, but it appears several companies worldwide do this ‘event’, and perhaps sending an ‘artist’ to review this sort of thing is either a really good idea, or… not a good idea.
I have no art education, am self-taught (like the man himself) and am working class, so I think that does make me perfect to talk about it.
It involves joining a queue (like you’re about to go on a ride at Alton Towers or Universal studios) to walk towards your goal, and this queue is extremely slow because everyone is talking photos and filming the text that appears on the digital displays. The text being mainly snippets of his letters to his brother Theo, an art dealer and main support both emotionally and financially throughout his short life.
This is not disabled friendly (I am not very mobile) as there was nowhere to sit during this initial part of the exhibition, and after 10 minutes I had to walk past everyone and ask if I could just go into the actual event as I couldn’t cope with another 20 mins of slow walking. This was not a problem (thankfully) and we went into the main room.
This is a large room, that has several very low couches in it (very low, not very disabled friendly again), and luckily as we got in there a person moved so I could sit down. You are surrounded on 4 sides (and also the floor) and a few ‘pillars’ of blank material for the images to be projected on (watching videos of other similar experiences in America I saw there was a lot of ‘mapping’ used, where the images were projected onto shapes like the paintings, making them 3D which I’m sure look incredible!).
Van Gogh’s painting is across all walls and the floor, and are mostly animated, leaves flutter, eyes blink, flowers bloom, and I’ve read that artists don’t like this, but I thought I was rather lovely and the few kids running about loved it. The accompanying music is lovely too, sort of soft jazz, Don Macleans ‘Vincent’ and a few Beatles songs (this IS Liverpool after all!) are quite soothing and go with the images. Text appears, again mainly his letters to Theo and a few quotes from David Hockney.
People were spread out, sitting on the floor, lying on the floor, leaning up against walls and in the main were quiet and well behaved. But of course, much like going to the cinema you always have a few numptys. Some women talking VERY LOUDLY (and not paying any attention to what was happening around them. I never understand people paying to do something to then..ignore it) about her neighbour who’d just been arrested for a full 30 mins, and a wandering man who continually walked around taking photos with his flash constantly on (I think he blinded every person in there) and of course, running around, bored kids.
The Paintings themselves were mainly his later works (he died aged only 37) and I think whoever created this experience didn’t have the rights to many of his ‘greats’, but included were The Potato Eaters, The Night Café, Starry Night and several of his self-portraits. Bearing in mind he was prolific and created over 2000 pieces, they did pick the most ‘famous’ ones.
The big negative for me was lack of disabled ‘help’, and by that I mean a few HIGHER seats with BACKS! And that long queue, but the main thing was…. and this sounds miserable I know, but other people. This would be such an amazing experience if no one was allowed to talk, and we could all just sit and really soak it in.
But there is one HUGE positive about this experience.
This brings ART to the masses.
Things like this kicks the art world UP its arse and proves that ART IS FOR EVERYONE, NOT JUST FOR RICH, POSH PEOPLE, and for that fact alone, I give it FIVE STARS.
Because the 2 women talking about “der robbin neighbor” and the annoying fella with the camera, they saw some of it, and I am 100% sure, that they soaked it right up, which makes it wonderful.
Exit through the gift shop.
The prices in this gift shop made me laugh out loud.
£10 for a pack of 4 badges. £15 for a Cup and …. £45 for a white long sleeved t shirt with starry night on it.
Terrible.
One last thing. A story of Dave’s 50th birthday. We went to New York and after seeing the 911 memorial we went to MOMA. I had NO idea Starry Night was in there, and turning a corner to be faced with it, just there, right there in front of me.
I burst into tears. It is breathtaking (and a lot greener than blue!), even writing about it gives me goosebumps.
This is the effect seeing Vincent face had on me yesterday. I felt so sad knowing what he went through, 20 feet tall, surrounded by his ginger face, so many depictions of the state of his mind in his eyes, knowing how he didn’t want to be alive when he painted one in particular, and knowing that not many people in that room know anything about the man, another positive is, I hope they now seek his work out and find out about him.
Beyond Van Gogh is in:
- Exhibition Centre, Liverpool: 27th June – 24th July
- SEC, Glasgow: 11th July – 4th August
- NEC, Birmingham: 1st August – 1st September
Finally the words of Don MacLean, thank you Vincent.
Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer’s day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colours on the snowy, linen land
Now, I understand what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now
Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue
Review by Tina from press access kindly supplied by Bill Elms.