“Have you ever dreamt of stepping into a painting? Now you can! Welcome to Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.” — Promises from the ads have people both confused and unable to contain their excitement about the upcoming immersive van Gogh exhibits hitting major US cities in 2021.
The van Gogh Experience
In 2021, people in the United States finally get to enjoy a 360-degree experience set to music featuring the work of Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. The exhibit places visitors in the middle of large-scale moving images that are projected onto the walls, ceilings, and floors in a large gallery or warehouse space.
The digital art show features van Gogh masterpieces set to music, and takes about 60 to 75 minutes to experience in full. For the Fever/Exhibition Hub shows, VIP Access enables visitors to experience an additional virtual reality component of the exhibition, a 10-minute journey through a day in van Gogh’s life that places you in the center of his most personal paintings. (Equipment disinfected after each use.)
Tickets
Timed-entry tickets currently on sale for shows in some cities are selling out quickly. Tickets go on sale this week for six other U.S. cities. Social distancing circles projected on the floor of the gallery give guests their own space during their visit, so ticket quantities are limited for all shows.
Different companies produced the exhibits currently on sale. Check the URLs for the tickets carefully before purchasing. (See below for more details.)
Tickets sold by FeverUp.com have a waitlist giving purchasing priority. I used it successfully for the Washington, DC sales and bought my tickets one day before they were released to the public. To check the waitlist for your city, visit https://vangoghexpo.com/
Chicago
When: February 11–September 6, 2021
Where: Lighthouse ArtSpace at Germania Club
Buy Tickets: Prices start at $40 ($25 for children 16 or younger), with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options, vangoghchicago.com.
San Francisco
When: March 18–September 6, 2021
Where: SVN West San Francisco (formerly the Fillmore West)
Buy Tickets: Prices start at $40 ($25 for children 16 or younger), with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options, vangoghsf.com.
Los Angeles
When: May 27, 2021–January 2, 2022
Where: Secret LA location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Prices start at $40 ($25 for children 16 or younger), with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options, vangoghla.com.
New York
When: June 10–September 6, 2021
Where: Secret NYC location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Prices start at $40 ($25 for children 16 or younger), with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options, vangoghnyc.com.
Atlanta
When: May 19–August 1, 2021
Where: Pullman Yards, Building 1
Buy Tickets: Prices start at $32 ($19 for children 12 or younger, $21 for military, seniors 65 and older, and students 13 to 26), with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options, feverup.com.
New York
When: June 26–September 26, 2021
Where: Secret NYC location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Prices start at $36 ($20 for children 12 or younger, $22 for military, seniors 65 and older, and students 13 to 26), with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options, feverup.com.
Boston
When: September 24, 2021–January 2, 2022
Where: Secret Boston location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Prices start at $36 ($20 for children 12 or younger, $25 for military, seniors 65 and older, and students 13 to 26), with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options, feverup.com.
Dallas
When: August 30–December 12, 2021
Where: Secret Dallas location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Prices start at $36 ($20 for children 12 or younger, $25 for military, seniors 65 and older, and students 13 to 26), with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options, feverup.com.
Philadelphia
When: August 12–November 21, 2021
Where: Secret Philadelphia location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Prices start at $35 ($20 for children 12 or younger, $25 for military, seniors 65 and older, and students 13 to 26), with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options, feverup.com.
Houston
When: October 2021 —
Where: Secret Houston location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Ticket prices start at $34.90 for adults and $19.90 for children.
Free entry for children under 4 years old, with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options. Tickets: feverup.com.
Washington, D.C.
When: July 2021 —
Where: Secret D.C. location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Ticket prices start at $36 for adults and $19.90 for children.
Free entry for children under 4 years old, with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options. Tickets: feverup.com.
Miami
When: May 2021 —
Where: Secret Miami location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Ticket prices start at $34.90 for adults and $19.90 for children.
Free entry for children under 4 years old, with VIP and flexible tickets available in addition to the standard timed ticket options. Tickets: feverup.com.
Seattle
When: Starting later this year, 2021
Where: Secret Seattle location, announced soon
Buy Tickets: Release on Wednesday, March 10th at 12 noon. Waitlist for advance purchase: feverup.com.
Some Confusion About the Exhibit
Several production companies competing for the same market are causing a lot of confusion for consumers. No fewer than four different companies are creating exhibits for viewers to, “immerse themselves in lush, Instagram-friendly environments created through high-resolution, glowing digital renditions of works by masters,” noted Artnet. Culturespaces, Starvox Entertainment, Exhibition Hub, and showman-museum director Charles Venable are all producing van Gogh immersive art exhibits.
In Boston, New York, and other cities these competing exhibits with similar names have some ticket buyers disappointed. The two exhibits are very closely named: “Immersive van Gogh” versus “van Gogh: the Immersive Experience.” They are similar, but different. I’ve yet to see a comparison of the two by someone who attended both; however, the Better Business Bureau has received numerous complaints about Fever from exhibit goers who felt duped into buying the wrong tickets.
Which is Which?
In the ticket list above, the first 4 link to “Immersive van Gogh” exhibits. Those shows are produced by Starvox Entertainment. The others all link to Fever’s “van Gogh: the Immersive Experience” produced by Exhibition Hub. The URLs are a clue to which exhibit you’re purchasing tickets for.
Out of curiosity and a great love of van Gogh’s work (remember when I geeked out on his exhibit in Houston a couple of years ago?), I bought tickets to both versions of the immersive experience. In August, I’ll review each and compare them to each other.
Also, when CultureSpaces opens their New York museum in the former banking hall on Chambers Street, the grandest space in a Beaux-Arts building designed by Raymond Almirall and constructed from 1909 to 1912, I will be one of the first in line. According to the Art Newspaper, it is expected to open in 2021-2022.
Other Digital Art Museums
The digital exhibit experience became popular in Europe and Asia in recent years. L’Atelier des Lumières – Paris’s first digital museum of fine art — opened in 2018 and saw over 400,000 visitors in its first 3 months. Also in 2018, teamLab Borderless opened in Tokyo. They define the permanent space as, “a world of artworks without boundaries, a museum without a map…a group of artworks that form one borderless world. Artworks move out of rooms, communicate with other works, influence, and sometimes intermingle with each other with no boundaries.”
Seemingly propelled by technologic advancements, the millennial generation’s desired way to experience things, and more recently, by COVID, there seems to be a sudden advancement in art exhibits taking storm and the public is thirsty to experience it.
I’m no exception. I’m very excited to experience these exhibits in August. I will undoubtedly post a review then. I hope you also get to enjoy it. Let me know what you think in the comments!
7 Comments. Leave new
What a fabulous idea! I had not heard about this kind of exhibit before, but now I’m going to keep an eye out. I’d love to see the Van Gogh exhibit, but as of now it looks like it’s not coming anywhere very near me, but if it’s successful, it may expand.
Okay I’ve been seeing ads for this in Houston a lot lately and have been thinking about going. I think you sold me!!
I haven’t been to this in Chicago yet, but I’ve heard only great things about it! It’s been extended here twice!
I saw an ad for this on Instagram or TravelZoo, and was intrigued. I briefly looked into the D.C. showing but wasn’t sure if we’d make it. But it sounds like such a cool experience. I’ll look forward to hearing how it was!
I work in NYC and have been seeing ads for this and literally can’t wait for it to open! I love that you gave so much information and can’t wait to hear about your experience with it!
This looks like an amazing experience. I’m really hoping to see this in person!!
Thank you for sharing! The exhibit looks so interesting. I am going to look into attending one of the exhibits near me!