‘Imagine Van Gogh’ makes its U.S. debut in Boston

A scene from the “Imagine Van Gogh” exhibit now at the SoWa Power Station in Boston Photo: Laurence Labat

BOSTON — There is nothing like seeing a masterwork in person.

But instead of having to travel to, say, Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum or the Musée d’Orsay in Paris during a pandemic, this time the artist is coming to you.

The U.S. Premiere of “Imagine Van Gogh” – the original immersive exhibition of the artist’s work  in Image Totale© — is now being held at the newly-renovated SoWa Power Station at 550 Harrison Ave. in Boston’s South End and was recently extended to March 19. 2022.

The exhibit, created in France by Artistic Directors Annabelle Mauger and Julien Baron, has captivated audiences and received rave reviews from critics, immersing you into 200 of Van Gogh’s paintings.

Visitors to the “Imagine Van Gogh” exhibit tour an extensive tutorial before entering the actual exhibit. Photo: Laurence Labat

The exhibit fills 24,000 square feet of the SoWa Power Station.  “Imagine Van Gogh.” the Original Immersive Exhibition in Image Totale©, allows the viewer to enter and roam the luminous dreamscapes conjured by Vincent Van Gogh, projected in infinitesimally fine detail and at the grandest scale, accompanied by the music of Prokofiev, Saint-Saëns, Schubert, Mozart, Satie, and more.

Invented by Albert Plecy in 1977, Image Totale© has been adapted by Mauger and Baron to offer passage into the visionary works of a beloved genius, where we become engulfed by those famously tactile brushstrokes.

The exhibit also includes an extensive tutorial on the life and times of the artist.

Indeed, the works of Van Gogh are displayed with amazing digital precision all round you, above you and even below you and it is breathtaking.

You can admire The Starry Night, Irises and Sunflowers, or be drawn into the intimacy of his Bedroom in Arles.

I have been lucky enough to see many of Van Gogh’s greatest works in person in New York, Paris and Amsterdam, and the memories are vivid. But the sheer length and breadth of these images take the works  to another dimension.

The exhibition takes about 45 minutes in total.

“Imagine Van Gogh.” the Original Immersive Exhibition in Image Totale© is designed as a contactless experience and will have timed entries and will operate in full accordance with current safety guidelines established by the CDC and the Massachusetts government – all visitors are required to wear masks both insideand outside the SoWa Power Station regardless of vaccination status.

Tickets are on sale now at http://www.imagine-vangogh.com.

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