What you should know before going to the 'Immersive Van Gogh' exhibit in OKC

A bright blue bed of "Irises" blooms right up the towering walls, smoke lazily curls from a "Head of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette," and a solitary lamp gradually reveals the peasant supper of "The Potato Eaters."

The blockbuster exhibit "Immersive Van Gogh" has arrived in Oklahoma City, using movement, color, sound and — most significantly — light to surround viewers in some of the world's most iconic artworks.

"When you walk in, it's as if you're standing completely inside a Van Gogh painting. ... It really is a new genre, a new way of experiencing art," Corey Ross, producer of "Immersive Van Gogh," told The Oklahoman.

"Every surface — the floors, the walls ... the architecture — is video mapped, including you. So when you walk in, if you wear white, you also will be part of the video. It's all video mapped and projected on, and it feels massive. It's 500,000 cubic feet of projections, so you are truly immersed in the art."

The touring phenomenon's first Oklahoma engagement continues through Jan. 15 at the OKC Convention Center, where more than 50 projectors have transformed the first-floor Exhibit Hall B into a sort of high-tech art gallery.

"The arrival of this exhibition demonstrates the many benefits of having this convention center, and continues to validate the investment made by our taxpayers," Mayor David Holt told The Oklahoman when the exhibit's OKC stop was announced. "This will definitely be a fun, artistic experience for our residents and visitors, and it seems especially fitting for a building that is slowly beginning to fill up with unique public art."

Here's what people can expect from the OKC run for "Immersive Van Gogh." 

What will viewers see inside 'Immersive Van Gogh' OKC?

One of several popular experiential exhibits devoted to Van Gogh, "Immersive Van Gogh" invites audiences to see famed artworks by the prolific Dutch post-Impressionist painter in a new way. Vincent van Gogh struggled with mental illness and remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his relatively short life — he died in 1890 at age 37 of a presumably self-inflicted gunshot wound — but Van Gogh posthumously emerged in the 20th century as one of the most influential painters in Western art history.

The exhibit showcases some of his most famous paintings, including his "Sunflowers" series, "The Girl in White," "Café Terrace at Night" and, of course, "The Starry Night."

"Our artists have animated the art, so if you're in a field of sunflowers, the sunflowers are swaying. Clouds are going by, the stars are twinkling, and it's amazing because Van Gogh's art is so suggestive of movement on its own," said Ross, the founder of Lighthouse Immersive, a Toronto-based company that creates, produces and distributes "Immersive Van Gogh" and other digital immersive art experiences.

"So, technically, it's an animated film, but it's got this experiential element that you are thrust inside of it as opposed to watching it on a surface."

The 35-minute cinematic experience opens with Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" bursting in bright yellows across the walls and onto the shiny concrete floors. The sunny floral fields morph until they become panes of flaxen brushstrokes that turn into a sheet of static wiped away by a giant golden hand.

From there, Van Gogh's works transform, fade and bleed into one another. Line drawings of "The Bedroom" swiftly form the painting, the blazing hues of his autumnal landscapes give way to the softer greens of his olive orchards, and the swirling stars are joined by several self-portraits that shine like constellations in "The Starry Night."

"If you're interested in Van Gogh's brushstrokes, this is magnified at a level that you can really see those," Ross said.

What will attendees hear inside 'Immersive Van Gogh' OKC?

In one particularly stunning sequence, the sun rises in one corner of the hall, swoops across a digital collage of Van Gogh's pastoral scenes — including "Sower at Sunset," "The Siesta" and "Haystacks in Provence" — and sets on the opposite side, all to the tune of French chanteuse Edith Piaf's gorgeous hit "Non, Je ne regrette rien."

Multimedia composer Luca Longobardi's soundtrack for the experience, which is available on Spotify, fuses contemporary pieces by the likes of Thom Yorke, Guy Sigsworth and Imogen Heap; classical works by Gustav Mahler, George Frideric Handel and Modest Mussorgsky; and his own original compositions.

The Italian creative team customizes the exhibit to fit the architecture of each venue, and the OKC exhibit hall is essentially a wide blank canvas that provides plenty of space to watch the shifting art. The experience was designed by creative director Massimiliano Siccardi, with Vittorio Guidotti as the art director for the attraction, sometimes billed as "The Original Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit."

What do ticketholders need to know about seating, sound and more?

Several white benches are clustered along the center of the exhibit hall, but they don't provide enough seating for all ticketholders, especially during peak hours. Attendees who are able can stand or sit on the floor, and it's recommended that they dress accordingly. Some ticketing options include rental cushions to make sitting on the floor more comfortable.

"It's got this choose-you-own-adventure element to it in that you can walk around, you can walk through, you can examine it from different angles. You can sit, you can stand, it's sort of your choice as to how you experience it," Ross said.

Viewers can even lie on the floor to let the projections wash over them — it's best to wear white or a light color if you want to try that — and my two daughters even launched into a spontaneous dance to Piaf's uplifting anthem.

The 35-minute experiential film plays on a loop, and ticketholders are encouraged to watch it more than once. They can take photos or videos without flash, and a small gallery outside the exhibit includes selfie stations, biographical information about Van Gogh and a gift shop.

No camp chairs, tripods, backpacks, duffle bags, weapons, paints, aerosols, indelible markers or outside food or drinks are allowed.

The exhibit's soundtrack is often loud, and ear protection, especially for children, is advised. Earplugs are available at the gallery, or attendees can bring their own.

The moving images in "Immersive Van Gogh" — especially in sequences that move through his "Corridor in the Asylum" and seemingly simulate the artist's mental health struggles — can at times be dizzying and disorienting. People who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy, sensitive to moving lights or prone to motion sickness should think carefully before attending.

Just how popular is 'Immersive Van Gogh?'

Although OKC is no stranger to immersive art experiences — both touring and homegrown — "Immersive Van Gogh" is believed to be the first of the trendy attractions using high-quality projections to envelope viewers in the works of Van Gogh in particular.

OKC is the 21st North American city to get an "Immersive Van Gogh" exhibit, and more than 5 million visitors have toured the attraction since its 2020 debut. A popular Netflix series is credited with launching the trend in the United States.

"Massimiliano Siccardi, who's the creator of our show, has been doing these immersive shows for about 30 years in Europe. When I met him, he was working in Paris at Atelier des Lumières, which is the gallery that was on 'Emily in Paris.' That's how many Americans know about this," Ross said. "He recreated this new show for America, and it has a loose narrative to it, where you're going inside the mind of Van Gogh."

The company declined to disclose OKC ticket sales figures, but a spokesperson for Lighthouse Immersive said in an email that a number of time slots and dates for the limited run have sold out and that company leaders are pleased with the response to the exhibit's Oklahoma debut.

That's promising news to OKC Convention Center General Manager Barbara Beaton, since it means there's a potential for repeat business with the company, which is launching in 2023 its anticipated new touring attraction "Disney Animation: Immersive Experience."

"This is the longest-running event that we that we've had to date; of course, we've just been open for almost two years. But typically, our events are no more than five days ... and usually, we don't have anything on our books scheduled for the last two weeks of December. So, this is great for us to have people in the building and enjoying something during the holiday season," she said.

"I thought it was just spectacular. I love Van Gogh anyway, but it's just the music and everything that makes it a wonderful experience. ... So far, everybody just loves it."

What do tickets cost to 'Immersive Van Gogh?'

OKC admission to "Immersive Van Gogh" is $79.99 for VIP tickets, $49.99 for premium tickets, $39.99 for basic tickets and $29.99 for a child ticket during off-peak hours, which are generally all day Mondays and Tuesdays and before 5 p.m. other weekdays. 

During prime hours — generally weekday evenings, weekends and holidays — the cost is $109.99 for VIP packages, $79.99 for premium tickets, $69.99 for basic tickets and $39.99 for a child's ticket. (The exhibit is closed for Christmas but open for New Year's.)

VIP and premium packages include amenities like a rental cushion, limited edition poster and the flexibility to arrive one hour before or after a ticketholder's scheduled time, subject to the exhibit's hours. Children must be accompanied by an adult ticketholder.

For tickets and information, go to https://www.vangoghoklahoma.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Blockbuster 'Immersive Van Gogh' OKC: What you need to know