I missed pre-pandemic visits to art exhibits and museums. Especially as a newcomer to the very art-centric city of Miami, I couldn’t wait to dive back into the art scene here. As people get vaccinated and COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, there’s now more opportunities to get together with friends and see art safely indoors.

Two weeks ago, my friends visited from New York and Denver. I took them to the immersive Beyond Van Gogh exhibit. The exhibit made me feel like I was inside of Gogh’s paintings. It was awesome!

In this post, I share some background about the exhibit as well as photos and a video depicting our absolute joy during this experience.

The Van Gogh Immersive Experience

The immersive Van Gogh experience made its way around the world from Paris to Bangkok and then finally came to the USA this spring.

Running from April 15 through July 11, the exhibit in Miami is one of several slight variations in cities all over the USA. All variations of the exhibit focus on the work of 19th century painter, Vincent van Gogh, through moving images including 300 of his iconic works. They are projected over 500,000+ cubic feet of walls, floors, and ceilings.

The creator, Massimiliano Siccardi, is the Italian originator of immersive experiences. Luca Longobardi is the Italian composer and pianist who created the beautiful score for the exhibit. The combination is all-encompassing.

I decided to get tickets for when my friends, Dasha and Helen, planned to visit Miami in late May. We are all vaccinated and this was our first time seeing each other in well over a year! It was also their birthdays recently and I wanted to treat them to something memorable to celebrate.

Tickets were $47 each plus a $6 ticket processing fee. So the total came to about $160 for 3 tickets. Was it worth it? I definitely thought so! Helen apparently cried within 10 minutes of the experience and Dasha also stated that she really enjoyed it.

I got teary eyed at times and generally was wowed by the whole thing. I really love immersive combinations of art, music, lighting, and video imagery. If those things don’t sound exciting to you then skip this exhibit!

The Location - Ice Palace Studios

Outside Ice Palace Studios are large palms with red hammocks hung between them. It’s an cool little spot to wait for the entry time on your ticket.

I ordered our tickets in advance so we were able to go right in. That still didn’t stop us from enjoying the hammocks for a few minutes beforehand!

Outside the exhibit is also a perfectly set up photographic moment. The large blue to yellow gradient letters spelling V-A-N-G-O-G-H added to the weirdly fanatic feeling of this activity.

What I mean by weirdly fanatic is that I like van Gogh but I’m not obsessed with him or his work enough to take pictures with his oversized name. And yet, that’s exactly what I found myself doing.

In the end, it’s just FUN visually and there’s ample opportunity to take photos for no other reason than “for the gram!”

Entering The Exhibit

The entrance to Ice Palace Studios immerses you immediately. The first hallway includes neon lighting against a Starry Night wallpaper. A quote by van Gogh written out in lights reads, “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.”

I was already obsessed with the colors and lighting and messaging!

A long purple draped hallway brought us to the next major section of the exhibit. The large dark room held rows of glowing signs with parts of a written history and biography of van Gogh.

Quotes from his reflections on his art and stories telling of his mental health struggles were set against backdrops of his paintings.

Between these informational plaques hung differently sized, canvas-less art frames. We had fun standing in them for silhouetted photos.

The rows of information and frames were a smart design that steadied the flow of traffic into the main exhibition. Masks were required and between this and the timed entry tickets, social distancing was still possible.

The next area led to another open room just before the doorway into the main attraction. Before passing through these doors, we paused to watch the projection of colors against the wall.

We noticed van Gogh’s face would occasionally appear in the light amidst the projected colors and brush strokes in a sort of ominous, Gogh-is-watching-yoooouuu sort of way.

The Van Gogh Projection Room

Dasha and I lagged behind Helen a bit since she was a much faster reader. And I think we just like to take our time! Eventually we caught up to her inside the main projection showcase.

When we walked in, we were immediately met by a moving image of van Gogh’s “Almond Blossom” (1890) painting. The blossom petals fell all around us as gloomy, synthy music blared.

I literally felt like I was inside his painting.

I also loved the display of his self-portraits. I never realized there were so many until they were individually displayed and some were even changed out over time.

Covered in projections of his art, the room also had 2 dividers with projections centered on opposite sides of the room.

These dividers often featured separate sections or iconic pieces of his work that matched the rest of what was shown around the room.

Immersed in Gogh’s “Wheat Field with Cypress” (1889)

One favorite moment was when the projections pulled colors off the wall and made dancing strips of color across the floor.

Another of my favorites was when they combined The Sunflowers (1888) and Irises (1889). They were made to spin around as cut out flowers overlapping over one another.

Some say the Last Supper is hidden in “Café Terrace at Night” (1888)

Van Gogh has so much art that some of the projections would simply populate them as a collage according to a particular theme. Like with his self-portraits, another collage they focused on was his paintings of flowers and blossoms.

When they dove deep into a painting, it would take up the whole room as a singular backdrop. Sometimes a fully blown out piece would populate with each brush stroke slowly spreading across the room.

Inside Starry Night

The most anticipated, iconic, and loved of van Gogh’s work is “Starry Night” (1888). This morphed into his “Starry Night Over the Rhone” (1888) piece which then fell away into his post-impressionist, star-filled night sky that made its first appearance in “Café Terrace at Night” (1888).

They really played up this part of the exhibit, making the swirls for starry night shoot around the room and swirl together in white wisps before it took on its full form as the original painting. Then it morphed from one painting to the next.

Van Gogh’s quote “to look at the stars always makes me dream” emerged onto the wall. Finally, this series ended in a glittering starry night sky set to chiming music.

It was truly magical!

The photos only capture a fraction of what this exhibit was like. To get a better idea, watch the video below which is a collection of video captures by all of us!

In Conclusion

Beyond Van Gogh was a true immersive experience that made me feel like I was inside van Gogh’s paintings. As someone who appreciated his work before but didn’t ever take a deep dive into it, this exhibit turned me into a true fan!

I also gained a deep appreciation for Siccardi and Longobardi who put it together as the creator and musician, respectively. The projections combined with the music made this an incredibly moving experience!

If you can, I urge you to see it in a city near you before the exhibit ends. It is expected to run throughout the summer in most cities. Stay safe, have fun, and let me know what your experience was like! :)

Featured