Come Jun 29, Bengaluru can 'immerse' itself in Dutch master Van Gogh

Bengaluru, Jun 19 (PTI) The next best thing to standing in front of Vincent Willem Van Gogh's 'Wheatfield with Crows' -- lost in the 'loneliness' that the artist managed to evoke with a few brush strokes -- is being 'immersed' in it. Thanks to the 30-minute 'The Real Van Gogh Immersive Experience' show, Bengaluru will have a chance to get to know the Dutch master a little better.

The show will be on at Bharatiya Mall here from June 29.

Nikhil Chinappa, co-curator and producer of the 'The Real Van Gogh Immersive Experience', is quick to point out that nothing can beat the 'mind-blowing' experience of seeing the original paintings of Van Gogh, a Post-Impressionist painter. But, he added, immersive shows can certainly nudge people towards the art.

"Van Gogh is popular, no doubt. But that does not mean people know him. For that, one needs to understand what drove that man, and why he painted the way he did. These are things that we present in our show, which I hope would make people want to go to museums and galleries in search of his work," Chinappa had told PTI, ahead of the Real Van Gogh show in Hyderabad last April.

Mumbai-born Hemali Vadalia, artist and animator, who is based out of New York, and the curator of the show, had explained the meticulous detailing that went into making Van Gogh an immersive experience.

The artist, who was part of the fully hand-painted animation film, 'Loving Vincent', said her show is different from the ones already been to India.

Bengaluru, for instance, had witnessed another Van Gogh immersive experience show called 'Van Gogh 360' in 2023.

"Van Gogh is almost an obsession for me. I have studied him enough to know when his dots become dashes and dashes become curvier. When I put together what I know of the artist and the man, it became a 200-odd pages document," Vadalia had told PTI ahead of the Hyderabad show.

This became the team's go-to reference for Van Gogh, said Naveen Kiran Boktapa, a Bengaluru-based animator who helped Vadalia digitally animate the works of Van Gogh. With his help, the team made, for instance, the sailing ships in Van Gogh's 'Seascape at Saintes-Maries' bob and waves curl.

When all these digital touches are projected onto a more vivid 22,000 Lumen projection -- a first for India -- it enhances people's 'real' experience, added Chinappa.

The technically aided touches aside, the team said they also made it 'real' for people by helping them connect the dots and understand the context behind the works of art.

For instance, pointed out Chinappa, there is a reason why Van Gogh used a lot of yellow in his later works.

"Science has now established that one of the side effects of excessive exposure to Digitalis -- an extract of foxglove plant used to treat epileptic seizures--results in people seeing things in a yellow haze," said Chinappa.

Van Gogh, he added, was prone to seizures and might have been suffering from Digitalis poisoning.

"This could be the reason for his yellow phase. When I put this in perspective, a lot about Van Gogh's works made sense to me. This I am hoping would be the case for anyone who would come for the show," said Chinappa. PTI JR KH