Virginia

Get an inside look at the immersive van Gogh exhibit in Virginia Beach that everyone is talking about

Published

1 year ago

July 30, 2023

Get an inside look at the immersive van Gogh exhibit in Virginia Beach that everyone is talking about

“Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” is where paintings move, an installation designed for people who wouldn’t ordinarily meander through museums.

“There’s always this idea that for some people museums can be intimidating,” said Fanny Curtat, one of the curators, who was in Virginia Beach for the show’s recent opening. It is one of three touring the United States; worldwide, the shows have sold more than 5 million tickets.

A professor of art history at the Université du Québec, Curtat helped select about 300 pieces of the 850 or so that van Gogh is known to have produced. The show begins with his biography, then introduces viewers to his early work, including “The Potato Eaters,” which is filled with dark colors and feelings of destitution. The exhibition progresses to the vibrant and fluorescent paintings for which the Dutch painter is best known.

The exhibit stretches the work digitally into gigantic proportions. One of van Gogh’s most famous works, “The Starry Night,” is a canvas less than 3 feet square. Here it is projected in 3D on 20-foot screens.

The enhancements are intended to bridge the gap between van Gogh’s 19th century world and the digital age. In addition to casual art observers, Curtat said, the installation is meant to entice aesthetes and people like herself.

“Because, if they’re like me,” she said, “it’s like the fantasy of being inside a painting.”

The show covers 30,000 square feet, filling two rooms. Soft music plays, with a little Édith Piaf and a lot of violins.

“The beginnings”

The first room is filled with informational panels that detail van Gogh’s life set against swatches pulled from his paintings. The fragments are enlarged to highlight his brushstrokes and technique.

Impressionist painters like Claude Monet used thin layer upon thin layer of oil paint. Van Gogh was different.

“He’s not really blending the colors, he’s really putting them side by side,” Curtat said, pointing to the hues on a panel.

He meticulously built paintings with a signature energetic, almost frantic, feel. Like Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock, van Gogh falls between eras.

“So, it’s about changing perspective,” Curtat continued, still motioning to the panels, “and seeing how these technologies can add to the experience.”

The panels tell how van Gogh was born in 1853 in the Netherlands, where he taught himself to draw landscapes of the farmland that surrounded him.

He became an art dealer in 1872 when he and his brother, Theo, were hired by the same dealership. Theo thrived, but Vincent did not. He considered going into the Protestant clergy; after all, his father had been a preacher. Disappointment followed, however, when van Gogh found he lacked the disposition needed for the pulpit.

It wasn’t until 1880 that he devoted himself to being a professional artist.

A dark world

The second room of the exhibit is a large oval. Twenty-foot-high screens carry a 35-minute, looping video that starts with the artist’s earliest works.

“You really, truly have an arc that the show is built on,” Curtat said.

“At the beginning, you have a starkness that he’s reproducing, because that’s what the art world was about at one point,” she said. Paintings with earthy and dark tones are the type of works van Gogh would have been exposed to in the Netherlands.

One, “The Potato Eaters,” depicts a poor family dining on potatoes, huddled around a single dim oil lamp. But more than mere examples of artistic style, such early work also provides insight into themes that spanned the breadth of van Gogh’s career as he never stopped choosing common, everyday people as subjects.

Dutch master Vincent van Gogh's 1884 painting titled "The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring" was stolen from the Singer Museum in Laren, Netherlands, Monday March 30, 2020. — An 1884 van Gogh, which preceded his move to France: “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring.” The parsonage was that of his father. The work was stolem from a museum in Laren, the Netherlands, in March 2020.

A shift to light

His work brightens with his move in 1886 to Paris, where he was exposed to Impressionist painters.

Parisian cityscapes begin to fill the walls of the exhibit hall. Instead of dark greens, there are beiges. Viewers are surrounded by an urban neighborhood. A windmill next to a stream running through the town starts to spin — thanks to computers. Then the walls are filled with images of buildings, and the camera pans upward, giving the audience a sense that it is flying, up, through the painting and its canopy of structures.

Van Gogh’s exploration of brightness starts with Paris, Curtat said, “but it’s just the pure explosion of color when he gets to the south of France.”

By 1888, van Gogh had grown tired of buzzing streets and manmade facades, and moved to the countryside town of Arles.

Part of the rich blue river in his “Starry Night Over the Rhône” is displayed around the installation, giving viewers a sense of being surrounded by water, a sense of what van Gogh might have felt when capturing the scene.

Portraits and flowers

Next the exhibition walls fill with the portraits.

“He’s always described as this isolated figure and as being not good with people,” Curtat said.

Van Gogh often couldn’t afford to pay models and painted the likenesses of the people he knew.

“A lot of people loved him, and he loved a lot of people,” Curtat said, while recognizing that the famously troubled artist still had his faults. “Although, he wasn’t always good at communicating with people. Sometimes, he was too intense.”

The dozens of portraits illustrate that van Gogh did have a strong community of supportive acquaintances.

“In life and in painting too,” he wrote to Theo in 1888, “I can easily do without the dear Lord, but I can’t, suffering as I do, do without something greater than myself, which is my life, the power to create.”

“Portrait of Doctor Félix Rey” flashes into view not far from the “Portrait of Postman Roulin” and a portrait of the artist’s green-eyed mother. Although Curtat argues that van Gogh tends to be portrayed in cliched terms, with the narrative of the tortured genius, the exhibit does include the self-portrait he made after he cut off his own ear in 1888. He killed himself about six months after completing it.

Soon the exhibit’s portraits are replaced by paintings of flowers in vases.

An image from "Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience," which opens in Virginia Beach on July 6. The exhibition includes more than 300 examples of the Dutch artist's work.- Original Credit: Timothy Norris - Original Source: Timothy Norris — From “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.”

He painted flowers like he painted people, Curtat said.

“He paints what he sees but not what he sees in the sense of atmospheric. It’s more what he perceives, what he feels.”

On one wall, fragments of other flower paintings creep like growing vines from around the edges of the canvases. Simultaneously, on an opposite wall, pieces of sunflowers spin and wrap around each other in tie-dye style, before everything is overtaken by a new image of swirling almond blossoms. The petals float over the whole exhibition space — its walls and floor and even over viewers’ shoes.

When the stars in “Starry Night” finally make their appearance, those swirling, and now digital, cosmic whirlwinds actually start to twinkle.

Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8139, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com

___

If you go

When: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 2.

Where: Virginia Beach Convention Center, Exhibit Hall D. 1000 19th St.

Tickets: Start at $33.99 for adults; $23.99 for children ages 5 through 15; children 4 and younger get in free.

Details: vangoghvirginiabeach.com

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Virginia

Virginia Tech Football: Three Keys to Victory for the Hokies on Saturday vs Virginia

Published

8 hours ago

November 28, 2024

Press Room

Virginia Tech Football: Three Keys to Victory for the Hokies on Saturday vs Virginia

The rivalry matchup between Virginia Tech and Virginia is nearly 48 hours away and it is a big matchup for both teams. The Hokies and the Cavaliers are both 5-6 and needing a win to make a bowl game. The loser will be getting a headstart on 2025 instead of playing in the postseason.

At the start of the year, Virginia Tech was being talked about as one of the biggest surprise teams not just in the ACC, but in the country. This team’s biggest goals have gone away, but they still have an opportunity to reach a bowl game for the second straight season. That should still be a big deal to the program, but on the other side, the Cavaliers are trying to make a bowl game for the first time under Tony Elliott. They are going to be fired up about playing in this game and having a chance to make a bowl game, so Virginia Tech can’t take it for granted, no matter their past success vs Virginia.

So what are the keys to a win for Virginia Tech on Saturday?

Before you could even blink on Saturday night, Virginia Tech was trailing Duke 14-0 thanks to two long touchdown plays and the Blue Devils have not been a very explosive offense this season. Virginia has found a way to put points on teams like Clemson and Louisville this season and has improved since last year. The Hokies’ pass rush was non-existent on Saturday vs Duke, finishing with no sacks and being unable to disrupt Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy. They will have to be able to play better on Saturday if they want to avoid the upset.

It is still up in the air who is going to play quarterback for the Hokies on Saturday night, but whoever it is would benefit from a big game from one of the nation’s best running backs. Tuten had 84 yards on 19 carries last week, but Virginia Tech might need more than that on Saturday when the face the Cavaliers.

Our own RJ Schafer wrote this about the quarterbavck situation heading into Saturday’s game:

“Brent Pry listed both Kyron Drones and Collin Schlee as questionable ahead of the historic matchup. He added that both will practice, although very limited, and they could “just be watching” from the sidelines.

Coach Pry also added that Virginia Tech is preparing four quarterbacks to be ready to play this weekend, including Davi Belfort, a freshman quarterback from Brazil, a country which could begin to be the future of American college football.

Whoever plays this weekend is going to have to have to manage the game and not turn the ball over. I think the offense is going rely on the run game heavily this weekend due to that.

Additional Links:

Virginia Tech Football Releases Depth Chart Ahead of Matchup Against Virginia

Virginia Tech Football: PFF Grades and Snap Counts For Every Player in Saturday’s Loss to Duke

Virginia Tech Football: Updated Bowl Projections For The Hokies Heading Into Final Game

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Virginia

Big Tests On The Horizon For Virginia Tech Wrestling – FloWrestling

Published

16 hours ago

November 28, 2024

Press Room

Big Tests On The Horizon For Virginia Tech Wrestling – FloWrestling

At 3-0 with marquee victories over #6 Missouri (23-10) and #21 Rutgers (26-11), as well as a second-place finish in the Keystone Open with just a handful of starters competing, Virginia Tech has swept through a tough November and is prepared for a difficult December.

The Hokies, #12 in Flo’s team tournament ratings but top 10 in various dual-meet rankings, are next scheduled for an annual trip to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational, featuring 27 teams, of which 14 are among Flo’s top 25. And then it’s another trip west to Stillwater on Dec. 19 to challenge #5 Oklahoma State in a rare Thursday match.

The early key thus far for the Hokies has been the ability to win the bouts they’re supposed to win and grabbing a fair share of so-called toss-up bouts.

To wit, Tech’s #18 Sam Latona downing Missouri’s #13 Josh Edmond (4-2) at 141, or #25 Rafael Hipolito majoring the Tigers’ #32 James Conway (11-3) at 157 and #15 Jimmy Mullen stopping #20 Seth Nitzel (4-2) at heavyweight.

That trend continued at Tech’s Moss Arts Center match against #21 Rutgers when Latona used a late takedown to defeat Joey Olivieri 7-5, #4 Lennox Wolak pinned veteran Jackson Turley at 174 and #9 Andy Smith slipped past #17 John Poznanski 4-3 at 197.

Hokies coach Tony Robie only took a few regulars to the Keystone Open in Philadelphia and, led by championship efforts by #1-ranked Caleb Henson at 149 and heavyweight Hunter Catka, Tech placed second behind Lock Haven. Latona placed third at 141 and Sam Fisher did the same at 184.

Robie opted to use the Hokies’ roster as freshmen Dillon Campbell (125), Matt Henrich (157), Luke Robie (157) and Jack Bastarrika (133) competed as did redshirt juniors Jackson Spires (165) and Ty Finn (174). Spires placed second.

Who’s Ready For Change?

With legislation on the NCAA’s table affecting scholarship and roster limits — unlimited scholarships and a roster cap — as well as revenue sharing, some college wrestling programs likely have a serious dose of trepidation while others are confident they can deal with whatever happens.

Virginia Tech sits in the latter category.

“I have no concerns whatsoever about that,” Robie said earlier this month. “I think a lot of it probably will happen. It’s hard to say whether it’s good or bad for the sport; that’s not really for me to say. What I will say is you have to adjust with what the rules are and what the landscape of college athletics looks like, and that’s what we intend on doing.

“Is it good for the overall health of the sport of wrestling? The kid that’s the 35th kid on your roster? Probably not. But I think definitely there were probably some things that needed to change; the pendulum was starting to swing significantly the other way. At some point, it’ll probably start to go back to the middle.”

Robie said all anyone can do is wait for the final decisions.

“We have some contingency plans based on what we think is going to happen and we’ll move forward with our plan and try to execute it,” he said.

A Pretty Good Gig

Robie, in his eighth year as head coach, has been at Tech since 2006 and as each season passes, the commitment and enthusiasm remain the same.

“Well, you get to do what you like to do. And it’s a pretty cool thing to be able to coach wrestling for a living and be a part of a pretty good program, and work with some great people and try to affect the lives of the kids in your program,” he said.

“I think anybody would want to do that. For me, I’m not young anymore. I turned 50 … who knows how long I’m going to do it, but I’m going to give it the best I can while I’m doing it and hopefully continue to improve as a program and try to try to help these guys as much as possible. But it’s good, Virginia Tech’s a great place to work, it’s a great place to live. I’ve got a great staff and it makes my life pretty easy.”

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Virginia

VIDEO: UVA Football Players Preview the Virginia Tech Game

Published

23 hours ago

November 27, 2024

Press Room

VIDEO: UVA Football Players Preview the Virginia Tech Game

With the game of year looming this weekend, members of the Virginia football team were made available to to the media after practice on Tuesday morning to talk about the regular season finale against Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash on Saturday night in Blacksburg. Watch the video below to hear what UVA senior safety Jonas Sanker, graduate tight ends Tyler Neville and Sackett Wood Jr., and graduate defensive tackle Jahmeer Carter had to say ahead of the Virginia Tech game:

Sanker is the team’s leader in tackles with 89 total tackles and also leads the ACC in solo stops with 60 unassisted tackles. He has racked up 8.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, four pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, and an interception as part of a strong senior campaign that should earn Sanker some serious consideration for a First-Team All-ACC selection.

A transfer from Harvard, Tyler Neville is Virginia’s second-leading receiver with 35 catches for 387 yards and two touchdowns. Sackett Wood Jr., meanwhile, has recorded three receptions for 18 yards and a touchdown this season. Between the two of them, Neville and Wood have combined to appear in 83 college football games and make 48 starts.

Saturday will be the 55th game in the five-year career of Jahmeer Carter, who has started nearly every game for the last four seasons at Virginia. This season, Carter has 30 total tackles, including nine solo stops, two tackles for loss, one sack, and a pass defender. For his career, Carter is up to 131 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 7.5 tackles for loss.

Saturday night will be the first time Virginia plays at Lane Stadium in front of fans since the 2018 season, as the 2020 edition of the Commonwealth Clash was played in front of only 250 fans due to COVID-19 restrictions and then the 2022 Virginia vs. Virginia Tech game was canceled due to the shooting tragedy at UVA.

Virginia is seeking its first road victory at Virginia Tech since 1998, as the Hokies have won the last 11 Commonwealth Clash games played at Lane Stadium. Virginia Tech has won 17 of the last 18 overall games against Virginia and leads UVA 61-38-5 in the all-time series that dates back to 1895.

Both Virginia and Virginia Tech bring a 5-6 overall record into the regular season finale and both need to win the game in order to reach the six-win threshold required for bowl eligibility. There is only one other game this weekend between FBS teams who are battling for bowl eligibility (Eastern Michigan vs. Western Michigan). Virginia and Virginia Tech played each other for bowl eligibility at the end of the 2014 season.

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UVA Football Report Card: Handing Out Grades for Virginia vs. SMU

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