Two Van Gogh Experiences in Miami. Confused?

Immersive van Gogh experiences in Miami are blowing up social media – and creating a bit of confusion. People with tickets to one show are showing up to the second one's location.

Facebook is awash with people who post: “I've seen it, you should go.” Only to be corrected that what they’ve seen is van Gogh at the Ice Palace Studios adjacent to historic Overtown – which opened in April – and not a new and separate exhibition that opened at the Olympia Theater in downtown Miami in mid-June. Confused? You should be.

Let's try to sort it out for you.

“Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” (VanGoghMiami.com) at the Ice Palace opened in the spring and closes the middle of August. Entry is $46.99 for adults and $23.99 for children; modest discounts for seniors, students and members of the military are available.

"Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" (VanGoghExpo.com) at 174 E Flagler St. in the Olympia (or the Gusman Center, for those of us who have been around long enough) is the new kid in town, but is the older of the two, opening first in Naples, Italy, in 2017. Entry is $44.90 for adults and $22.90 for children, a family pass for two adults and two children is $28.20 and there are great discounts available for seniors, students and members of the military.

Both offer floor-to-ceiling digital projections of Vincent van Gogh's greatest works. Beyond that, there are distinct differences.

“The baseline of our show is a complete experience from his life – beginning with a four-minute documentary – before you even get to the digital immersion. We recreate his bedroom; an area where people can draw his paintings and project; plus a 10-min 3-D experience, so you travel,” said Exhibition Hub CEO Mario Iacampo, producer of the Olympia Theater show, where seats are folded down and covered over by a floor. “We think that our approach creates the most complete experience ... I'm very comfortable telling people that.”

And he's right.

This new entrée into the market is the most informative, educational and profound show about van Gogh you'll probably ever see. Everything from the timeline near the entrance and the brief documentary, to the more traditional museum gallery experience fully prepare you for the digital immersion room showcasing more than 300 of van Gogh's works.

Following is a popular hands-on activity for adults and children alike to color van Gogh art templates and project them on a wall, ending with a glorious 3-D experience that takes you inside the environments that inspired van Gogh's art. There are even two special corners early on in the show where a giant-sized sculpted bust of the artist and an oversized half-vase serve as projection surfaces.

This exhibition also addresses the artist's mental illness and confinement more directly and thoroughly, explaining how they influenced his work. And what a large body of work it is!

Van Gogh completed 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches that we know of. The lion’s share was produced in the last 10 years of his life. It’s as if he was in a frenetic race to put as much down on canvas as possible before time ran out – he took his own life at age 37. 

Another unique aspect of this exhibition is the explanation and visualization of the influence Japanese illustrative art had on van Gogh. At one point, he became so enthralled by the technique that he bought 600 Japanese prints from a Parisian dealer in order to study them. This influence on his work from that moment forward is reflected only in this show.

For a well-worth-it $5 upcharge, the 10-minute 3-D experience on the second floor takes you inside the Paris countryside and right up to the Rhône River's edge. to see for yourself the vast wheat fields and reflections on starry nights that made themselves onto van Gogh's canvases.

Apples to Apples: Comparing Venues

When Iacampo goes to a new city to scout for an exhibition location, he has certain criteria in mind.

“We started with the idea of iconic buildings, because the buildings enhance the experience. We remap the exhibit to every venue. We need very high ceilings,” he said. “When you walk into the Olympia, you see all this intricate work on the wall. We left that alone; it adds to the experience. A lot of the beginning is set in an old cathedral ... the buildings are half the show because they set the tone.”

Trouble is, there are very few iconic buildings in Miami. While the Olympia fit the bill in terms of age and beauty, it's too small for this exhibition. It feels cramped. Erected walls do not rise to the ceiling to separate each element, which means there is no way to create sound barriers from one area to the next, a definite distraction.

The symphonic soundtrack and occasional narration from a voice pretending to be van Gogh in the digital immersion room permeates the building. It competes with the introductory documentary soundtrack (set up in a space that allows people to aimlessly traipse by in front of the screen) and also competes with the narration of the 3-D experience on the second floor. While trying to concentrate on the narration coming from my virtual reality headset, I could hear the booming sound coming from the room I just left, as well as somebody nearby asking for directions to the restroom.

“We start with the idea of creating a Zen environment. The music drives the show but doesn't overtake it,” said Iacampo in a conversation we had before my attendance.

So although it is intended to be a “Zen” experience, it was not, and that has everything to do with the conditions and challenges of the space.

Much more art and information is packed into this exhibition, but the more genuinely Zen experience is to be had at Ice Palace Studios, where the site provides significantly more space than “Beyond Van Gogh” needs. At this location, the room used for digital projection is probably twice or perhaps even three times the space dedicated to the same at the Olympia, and it envelops you not only on four sides and under your feet, but over your head on the ceiling as well. That's what I call immersion. To say it makes you feel as if you've walked into a painting is not an exaggeration.

Prior to the beginning of that exhibition, there is a room full of frames seemingly floating throughout the spaces, with projected explanations of the artist's life and his relationship with his younger brother, as documented through their many letters. They were certainly informative, and the room was quiet and expansive enough to digest its content without feeling rushed because crowds are breathing down your neck, as they were in Olympia's tighter spaces.

There is a simplicity to the show at Ice Palace Studios because it has two stops before the pop-up gift shop and bar/café, and because the rooms are vast enough to allow for better projection.

In contrast, you learn a lot more at Iacampo's exhibition at the Olympia, and if you are attending as a family it's clearly a more economical choice.

My advice is to attend both, if you can. If your job provides the flexibility, visit the Olympia exhibition during the week when there should be fewer people in attendance, making it easier to calmly stop and read every word and take in all the elements that were so carefully crafted in this more robust show, even though sound issues cannot be mitigated.

The Popularity of van Gogh Digital Immersion

Boston, Dallas, Miami and New York are all getting two van Gogh “experiences” apiece, created separately by some of the half-dozen companies that are now engaged in producing immersive shows of the artist’s work and life.

While posing a marketing challenge for show producers, it's a great opportunity for the general public to become exposed to this iconic artist.

“We are living in a world where less and less of his paintings will travel. Many are 150 years old. The blinding orange in ‘Starry Night,’ now it's yellow,” said Iacampo. “Everybody is afraid to move paintings. If you move it from Amsterdam to MOMA in New York, who is going to insure you?”

So, if you were one of those Vincent van Gogh fans who stood cheek-by-jowl at the Museum of Modern Art (pre-pandemic) in 2017 to get a selfie in front of “The Starry Night,” that was probably your last chance. Now your selfie will be in a digital immersion room.

Will we see the works of more great artists animated and projected floor-to-ceiling in the coming months and years? I think you can count on it.