The upcoming #VanGoghTO immersive exhibit was announced two days ago, and the show—which will take over a five-storey abandoned warehouse at 1 Yonge Street—is already receiving tremendous buzz. (See below for pre-sale code.)
 
If you’ve heard about the wildly popular Parisian Atelier des Lumières exhibition (which has amassed over two million visitors) or attended The Art of Bansky in Toronto last spring, you know that the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit will be impressive in both magnitude and design, as it’s by the same producers. 
 
“IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH is astonishing in scale, breathtakingly stunning and induces a completely novel experience to the iconic works of Van Gogh,” says co-producer Corey Ross, Lighthouse Immersive. “We’re incredibly excited to be working directly with the masters of the art form of immersive digital art to present the foremost exhibition of this calibre and artistic innovation to Canada.”
 
In terms of which of Van Gogh’s iconic paintings guests can expect to see replicated, the press release shares that “the exhibition will feature a curated selection of images from Van Gogh’s 2000+ lifetime catalogue of masterpieces including the Mangeurs de pommes de terre (The Potato Eaters, 1885) to the Nuit étoilée (Starry Night, 1889), Les Tournesols (Sunflowers, 1888), and La Chambre à coucher (The Bedroom, 1889)”. 
 
Frankly, we’re as curious about the exhibit as we are the venue: the abandoned old Toronto Star printing press space, which closed in 1992, spans 600,000 cu. ft! #VanGoghTO promises to take over every square foot. 
 
No one knows whether Van Gogh himself would be a fan of this immersive exhibit or not, but it will undoubtedly introduce many (young and old) to the great artist, striking up conversations that range from post- impressionism to mental health, to what constitutes art today—and beyond.
 
A tour through the old Toronto Star space will also force visitors to question not just the definition and role of art today, but the media too. In fact, everything about #VanGoghTO seems ironic and eerily timed, considering The Star’s recent announcement to slash its arts section.  But would this even qualify? Is this art? Is #VanGoghTO about celebrating the artist? Or is it a profitable hype machine built for social media? It’s both, and if those questions aren’t explored in the The Star, due to cutbacks, they’ll surely be picked apart on Twitter.

Intrigued? There’s definitely lots to think and talk about! Grab your tickets before everyone else with pre-sale code VINCENT (enter it when it prompts you for an “access key”)
 
#VanGoghTO opens May 1st.  For more information about IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH, visit vangoghexhibit.ca