Vincent Van Hgghggoccchhhghghk!!

[waitingman]

Wise words... especially if you can back them up by producing art like this:



So yes... we've been to see the Van Gogh Alive exhibition in Sydney. You have to book a time well in advance & we chose a Tuesday afternoon after all the school holidays were over, thinking it wouldn't be too crowded, right? A fine theory as far as it goes. Where it all falls down is the amount of Great Unwashed & their non-school age kids in attendance. I don't care how artistic you say little Tarquin is - a kid under 5 is NOT there to take in the art & music & experience, (s)he is there to run amok in the semi-darkness, run up to the screens & bang on them, run into other people, then have a tantrum when (s)he's tired. And as for the "adults"... many of them seemed to think that Vincent's paintings could be infinitely improved by having themselves stand in front of the pictures & strike poses... & in one case, doing a fan dance performance in front of one of the screens, while a friend filmed it on their phone

Misanthropy aside, it's a wonderful exhibition/experience... whatever the marketeers want to call it. Beautifully soundtracked & visually creative

And probably better at one of the (starry) night sessions...

Comments

[paserbyp]

Only jealousy...

[basefinder]

I'm glad we went to the Van Gogh exhibit that visited Denver a few years ago. I know it's an old cliche, but photos of paintings just don't do them justice.

That reminds me, we haven't decided where to hang the Starry Night print in the new house.

[waitingman]

This is more than just photos... The projections are enormous - up to 10 metres high & on some really wide & tall screens, with different paintings, or details of the painting, or quotes from Vincent's letters & diaries appearing on the different screens. The room the exhibition is in, is the size of a decent auditorium... maybe about 4 basketball courts joined together, maybe more (I'm not much of a basketball fan!!)

[basefinder]

Oh, the exhibition you went to sounds amazing.

I was just blown away by the difference in seeing a masterful painting up close and in person, compared to seeing photos of the same on the internet. A computer screen just can't replicate oils on canvas.