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‘Immersive’ Van Gogh show coming to Philly isn’t the same one as in Chicago

The upcoming exhibit, “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” involves 360-degree digital projections and virtual-reality. Tickets go on sale Thursday.

"The Starry Night," oil on canvas by the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it describes the view from the east-facing window of his room at Saint-Paul de Mausole, a mental institution in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an ideal village. (Credit: Museum of Modern Art, New York)
"The Starry Night," oil on canvas by the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it describes the view from the east-facing window of his room at Saint-Paul de Mausole, a mental institution in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an ideal village. (Credit: Museum of Modern Art, New York)Read more
    by Ellen Gray
    Published 

Correction: The traveling “immersive” Van Gogh exhibition that was announced Monday as coming to Philadelphia this summer is not the same show that’s been playing in Chicago. This information was incorrect in a story in Tuesday’s Inquirer.

Tickets for “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” are scheduled to go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, and dates will be announced that day, although no location has yet been announced for the exhibit. It is not associated with “Immersive Van Gogh,” the show currently running in Chicago, and which opened last summer in Toronto. There are no plans to bring that show to Philadelphia.

Corey Ross, president of Lighthouse Immersive, the producers of “Immersive Van Gogh,” said Wednesday that ticket-buyers in New York, where both companies are planning exhibits, have complained that they bought tickets to “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” thinking they were for his company’s show instead.

“The challenge is that Van Gogh is in the public domain,” he said. “There are five [shows] that I’m aware of that exist” that employ the artist’s work.

“Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” has previously played in Europe, but has yet to open in North America. It’s scheduled to open in Philadelphia this summer. The location will remain secret for a while “to drum up interest,” according to a spokesperson for Fever, which is producing the show in conjunction with a company called Exhibition Hub.

What is “immersive” about this Van Gogh exhibit, you ask?

The exhibit involves 360-degree digital projections and virtual-reality “experiences,” but none of Vincent van Gogh’s actual canvases.

The venue for the Philadelphia tour stop will be announced in the coming weeks, according to a news release from Exhibition Hub that stressed the show’s social distancing and other COVID-19 restrictions, including mandatory masking.

Tickets for the Philadelphia version will be sold for half-hour intervals, and the show will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. Visits are estimated to last an hour to 75 minutes.

“We believe there is a pent-up demand for immersive entertainment in a COVID-safe environment,” said Mario Iacampo, CEO of Exhibition Hub, in a prepared statement. “As the world slowly returns to normal, ‘Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience’ allows people to once again gather and enjoy art and entertainment in a safe, socially distanced manner.”

Philadelphia’s current COVID-19 restrictions limit density at museums to either 10 or 20 people per 1,000 square feet, depending on the size of the exhibition hall.

Immersive Van Gogh Information, waiting list for tickets: vangoghexpo.com/philadelphia. Tickets begin at $19.90 for children and $34.90 for adults and go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday.