More than pictures on the wall: Beyond Van Gogh is a moving art experience for Jacksonville fans
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No matter how long you sit and study one of Vincent Van Gogh's celebrated self-portraits, it's not going to blink.
That isn't the case at Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, the new high-tech show that opened last week in downtown Jacksonville.
The windmills in his landscapes slowly turn. Birds fly through the background of pastoral scenes. The portraits blink. "The Starry Night" flows and flashes and explodes across the walls and floor of the former First Baptist Church auditorium-turned-immersive art venue.
It's a bit of an overwhelming experience to stand in the huge room, empty except for a pair of large four-sided pillars that add wall space. Projectors hung overhead run a 37-minute loop, splashing the images on the walls, the floors, the pillars and the patrons. See if you can find someone wearing a white shirt and watch as the patterns dance across their torso, and don't stand still in one place or you'll definitely miss things on the wall behind you.
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Just when you get used to looking at, say, Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" expanded to mammoth proportions, it shifts and flows and becomes another masterpiece, or several at once. There's a moment of portraits, then everything shifts to still lifes or landscapes. The paintings don't just blink out, though; they flow from one to the next in a way that connects with Van Gogh's original works. All told, about 300 paintings are represented in the show. The room goes all white at one point in a shower of flower petals, then familiar artworks start slowly appearing on the walls.
Sometimes one painting takes over the whole room. Other times, dozens are represented. Van Gogh's own words, taken from a series of letters to his brother, dominate the room now and then.
Innocuous music plays in the background but you can see it on people's faces when they suddenly recognize "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles or "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)" by Don McLean.
And if you're a little overwhelmed by the experience, there are always souvenirs. All visitors exit through the gift shop, which sells mugs, bags, keychains, hats, T-shirts, water bottles, calendars, planters, plush dolls and Van Gogh paint-by-numbers kits.
They've also added yoga classes amid the artwork for Saturday mornings at 8:30. Guests must bring their own mats, towels and water. Tickets are $59.99.
You'll need to go online to vangoghjacksonville.com to get tickets, which are sold on a timed basis to keep the numbers down. The show's run in Jacksonville has already been extended by three weeks; it will now remain in town until Nov. 27.
Organizers say they're already looking at other immersive shows to bring to the venue, which has been renamed as the NoCo Center in honor of the North Core area of downtown.
Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience
Through Nov. 27 at the NoCo Center, 712 N. Hogan St.
10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, closed Mondays and Tuesdays
$39.99-$59.99 for adults, $23.99-$28.99 for ages 5-15, free for ages 4 and younger
(800) 441-0819, vangoghjacksonville.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Beyond Van Gogh in Jacksonville: Immersive art show opens
