“I CAN’T change the fact that my paintings don’t sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.” Artist Vincent Willem van Gogh — whose painting The Red Vineyard (1888) is the only work known to have been sold in his lifetime — wrote those prophetic lines in a letter to his brother, Theo in 1888. Today, his works are sold for millions in auctions and private sales worldwide.
But one does not have to have millions, or visit a museum far from our shores to enjoy the Dutch post-impressionist painter’s works thanks to Van Gogh Alive, multi-sensory exhibition of selected masterpieces which is running until Dec. 8 at the fourth level of One Bonifacio High Street in BGC.
The exhibition is created and promoted by Grande Exhibitions, an Australian company specializing in the installation of large-scale exhibitions; and presented by the Bonifacio Art Foundation Inc. (BAFI), the non-profit organization behind The Mind Museum, the BGC Arts Center, and the BGC Public Art Program.
“It was a natural partnership with BAFI in redefining what can be creatively done inside indoor spaces. It was a coming together of how BGC can be a game-changer in its creative approach to community life and how to punctuate our collective experiences of a place,” Myra Ocampo, Head of Commercial Operations of Bonifacio Global City, was quoted as saying in a press release.
BAFI previously worked with Grande Exhibitions on the Da Vinci The Genius exhibit at the Mind Museum in 2013.
“We belong to the same organization of science museums and exhibition related organizations. We always know what each other is up to so we always know what they are offering,” Bonifacio Art Foundation managing director and curator Maria Isabel Garcia, told BusinessWorld on the sidelines at last week’s press launch.
“They wanted to present Van Gogh in a different light. They bring in that added value of digital prowess in order to present classical content in a contemporary way,” she added.
LIFE STAGES
The exhibition takes up a 500-square-meter space in One Bonifacio High Street, which can accommodate 270 visitors at a time. A life-size replica of Van Gogh’s bedroom in Arles, France welcomes visitors at the venue’s entrance, followed by a display and descriptions of his famous paintings.
Guests then enter the main exhibit space, a 45-minute presentation of over 3,000 paintings, portraits, photographs, and letters projected on a scattering of walls in the space, set to 23 pieces of music from composers such as Antonio Vivaldi, Franz Schubert, and George Frederick Handel.
Show is presented through SENSORY4, a system developed by Grande Exhibitions which “combines multi-channel motion graphics, cinema quality surround sound and up to 40 high-definition projectors.”
The stages of the artist’s life are told through a selection of his paintings done in the Netherlands, Paris, Arles, Saint-Remy, and Auvers-sur-Oise, including The Potato Eaters (1885), Flowering Plum Tree (1887), The Yellow House (1888), Starry Night (1889), and Wheat Fields with Crows (1890).
“We would really like viewers to pay attention [to the presentation] before taking selfies,” Ms. Garcia said.
Van Gogh Alive is on view at the 4th floor of One Bonifacio High Street, 28th St. cor. 5th Ave., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. For information, visit the official website www.vangoghalive.ph. Tickets are priced at P750 (adult) and P450 (student) and are available on a first come, first served basis at the Van Gogh Alive ticket booth, Mondays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and The Mind Museum ticket booth on Tuesdays to Sundays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Senior citizen and PWD discounts are not available on online purchases. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman
