Massive Van Gogh exhibit to welcome art lovers in New York

The exhibition which will take place at a 70,000-square-foot venue comes as the city emerges from a coronavirus lockdown that shut down cultural events and art crowds. A massive, immersive exhibition celebrating artist Vincent van Gogh has leaned on some Broadway talent for a little razzle dazzle during its visit to New York City. Producers of “Immersive Van Gogh” have tapped Tony- and Emmy Award-winning set designer David Korins for creative help after they secured a jaw-dropping 70,000-square-foot venue for their exhibit in lower Manhattan, easily the biggest space the exhibit has landed. “They wanted something bigger, fancier, deeper,” said Korins, who has designed sets for “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen” and is a lifelong fan of Van Gogh. “I wanted to really try and find a way to help people in 2021 see him more as a human.” Korins has added a ceiling installation that uses almost 8,000 paint brushes to thrillingly reproduce “The Starry Night,” a station that uses artificial intelligence to give visitors an individualised letter from Van Gogh, a chance to co-create a work with him on their phones, and booths that explore the artist’s synesthesia. Corey Ross, the lead producer of “Immersive Van Gogh,” said the show leans into every place it lands in and New York was the biggest challenge of any city the show has visited. “The question was, really, how do we bring in the essence of New York?” he said. “And of course, David Korins is someone whose work I love and he’s the top guy. So he was the first call.” Some elements of Korins’ work are expected to be added to upcoming visits to other cities. The exhibition has already been presented in San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto and Paris and plans are to expand to more than a dozen cities across North America, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh. The heart of the show is the same in each city — a 38-minute digital film projected across the hulking space that dynamically and elegantly weave images from Van Gogh’s paintings on the walls and ground to a soundtrack of gentle electronic music and ethereal piano.