Immersive Van Gogh, the highly-anticipated art installation, today announced via a virtual press conference that it will open June 10 at Pier 36 (299 South St.) a 70,000- square-foot facility located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side with views of the East River, the Brooklyn skyline and the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. Recently announced Creative Director New York David Korins, the award-winning designer of numerous Broadway hits including Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, also released additional details about his plans for the exhibit. Scheduled to open on June 10, a new block of tickets will go on sale to the public Saturday, April 24 at 10 a.m. ET. The initial block of tickets sold out.
Korins will sculpt the Immersive Van Gogh public spaces, both exterior and interior. This includes the main lobby (which will feature an elaborate, three-dimensional depiction of The Starry Night crafted of 7,500 brushes dipped in paint, as well as an oversized portrait of Van Gogh), and outdoor areas that bring the exhibit outside, taking advantage of the venue’s waterfront location. Korins is also bringing creative technology to make a series of illuminating, interactive and one-of-a-kind elements that offer ways to learn more about Vincent van Gogh, his life, his body of work and to take a deeper more meaningful look at how his work resonates with modern-day audiences. Within the exhibit, Korins will add tiered observation platforms, intricate mirrored sculptures and “secret” spaces for guests to discover as they observe the program.
“I have taken the bones from Massimiliano’s insightful and poetic piece and added new vantage points, intricate mirrored sculptures and secret spaces to create a truly unique experience for our guests. Embarking on this journey has been a thrilling and humbling experience of combining the work of two extraordinary artists and filtering it through my own artistic sensibility to deliver it to the New York audiences,” said Korins.
Pier 36, located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, is a state-of-the-art 70,000-square-foot sports and entertainment facility equipped with cutting-edge technology and stunning views of the Brooklyn skyline. The home of past events including the Billboard Women in Music Awards, Google Partner Summit, NBA Award Show and numerous high profile fashion shows and the NYC Food and Wine Festival, Pier 36 now welcomes New York’s premiere run of the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit, activating the space for the first time since the pandemic hit and serving to help NYC on its path towards entertainment and tourism recovery. Nestled between the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges off the FDR Drive, the space provides ample on-site parking and is easily accessible from the F Train (East Broadway station) or the M22 bus (Madison/Clin ton stop).
Korins has joined the creative team for Immersive Van Gogh, the original North American immersive celebration of Van Gogh’s art. The team includes Creator Massimiliano Siccardi; Composer Luca Longobardi and Art Director Vittorio Guidotti, all of whom have created immersive art exhibits in Europe. This winning team will make Immersive Van Gogh the most impressive staging to date and the most expansive in the world, having already opened to tremendous acclaim in Toronto, Chicago and San Francisco, with additional openings scheduled for 16 cities across North America, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas and more. Since its North American premiere in July 2020, more than 1.5 million tickets have been sold to Immersive Van Gogh, making it the most popular attraction currently in North America.
Immersive Van Gogh invites audiences to “step inside” the iconic works of post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh, evoking his highly emotional and chaotic inner consciousness through art, light, music, movement and imagination. The gallery space offers patrons more than 500,000 cubic feet of animated projections. Renowned Creative Director Korins will create a custom design to fit the architecture of the exhibition’s New York home, adding elements to the gallery space as well as adjacent auxiliary elements. Korins will create numerous New York-specific installations, viewing platforms and high-tech, experiential and interactive elements previously unseen in any other venue.
“Immersive Van Gogh has been hailed as an entirely new way of encountering art and has been enthusiastically embraced by press and patrons in every city in which it currently is being presented,” said Producer Corey Ross. “Our New York exhibition will be by far our most ambitious. Not only do we have the talents of our ingenious Italian creative team, we also have David Korins bringing his distinct creative vision to the project to provide an unsurpassed guest experience.”
“This will be an event that New Yorkers and visitors can enjoy safely, quite literally surrounding themselves with the work of Vincent van Gogh, one of the greatest artists who ever lived,” added Producer Svetlana Dvoretsky.
“I am thrilled to collaborate with the creative minds behind the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit to create a truly unique experience for the city of New York to enjoy and be inspired by,” said David Korins, Creative Director New York. “I have always been deeply moved when looking at Van Gogh’s paintings, which are universally beloved for their color and unique use of texture, or his transcendent ink drawings, and I’m humbled by the opportunity to develop an experience that will enhance the viewers’ time spent with his powerful art.”
It is expected that Immersive Van Gogh will be the first event of its magnitude since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have a track record of producing this event safely in numerous cities throughout North America,” said Co-Producer Irina Shabshis. “We hope that this will lift the spirits of so many New Yorkers, who have not had the opportunity to experience cultural attractions for the past year, with first-rate production values that will make this one of the top events in the city this summer,” added Co-Producer Maria Shclover.
“David Korins is very experienced and creative; he is giving his professional and artistic contributions to the implementation of the New York venue that will host my creation, Immersive Van Gogh”, said Creator Massimiliano Siccardi. “I feel that his vision will be able to excellently enhance the audience experience, priming their minds as they enter and exit our exhibit, and also creating architectural enhancements that will provide unique vantage points from which they can observe my work.”
“Most of all, I know that David shares a deep appreciation of and respect for the work of Vincent van Gogh, and that he, like me, wants to pay homage to the brilliance of his body of work, a legacy that influenced us all in our individual development as artists,” Siccardi continued.
“Immersive van Gogh’s premiere in New York, which very appropriately happens to be the biggest version of the exhibit ever created, comes at a very exciting time for our city, as we launch the most ambitious marking plan in our history to accelerate tourism recovery,” said EVP of Global Communications for NYC & Company Christopher Heywood. “Immersive Van Gogh is exactly the kind of demand generator we need, that will instill a sense of urgency and act like a catalyst to bring the masses back to New York City.”
Immersive Van Gogh has received rave reviews from critics worldwide. The Chicago Tribune wrote, “entire rooms pulse with imagery and emotional resonance.” While the Chicago Time Out described the exhibit as, “The future of experiential art.” San Francisco Chronicle, “After a year without big, splashy art happenings, this is a huge, indulgent way to dive back in.” The Toronto Sun declared, “the mind-blowing imagery, brings van Gogh’s best work to life — including Sunflower, Irises, and The Starry Night — for a cathartic and liberating experience. Immersive Van Gogh ups the emotional ante.” Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star stated, “I wondered: could projections of paintings on walls and floors be thrilling? The answer is ‘yes.'” Called a “completely new way of encountering art” by CTV and a “blockbuster digital experience that has taken the art world by storm” by Artnet News, the exhibit “cleverly embraces creativity,” according to Washington Post. The San Francisco Chronicle summed it up saying “It’s one hell of a way to wake up from our long pandemic art nap.”
The hour-long walk-through installation has been designed with health and safety as a priority. Admissions will be limited according to New York City’s capacity guidelines with touchless ticket-taking; temperature checks upon arrival; hand sanitizer stations and social distancing markers prominent throughout the venue; and digitally projected social distancing circles on the gallery floors to ensure appropriate spacing. All guests must wear a face covering at all times during their visit to Immersive Van Gogh.
Immersive Van Gogh was designed by Creator and Italian film producer Massimiliano Siccardi, with original, mood-setting music, both original and curated, by Italian multimedia Composer Luca Longobardi, who provided a score that combines experimental electronic music with pure, ethereal and simple-seeming piano. Vittorio Guidotti is the Art Director. Siccardi and Longobardi are both pioneers of immersive digital art installations in Europe, where they created the world-renowned Van Gogh, Starry Night exhibition, among others. With approximately 100 state-of-the-art projectors illuminating over the exhibit space, visitors to Immersive Van Gogh will be encircled from head-to-toe in Van Gogh’s brushstrokes and colors, including animated details from works such as Self Portrait with Felt Hat (1888), The Bedroom in Arles (1889), Irises (1889) and The Starry Night (1889).
“American Express is thrilled to be partnering with Immersive Van Gogh to provide Card Members with exclusive access to this beautiful experience coming to Pier 36 in New York City,” said Anike Wariebi, Vice President of Entertainment and Membership at American Express. “Supporting the arts is more important than ever and we are excited for New Yorkers to explore Vincent van Gogh’s art in a new and exciting way.”
Tickets and Venue Information
Tickets for the exhibition are on sale now at vangoghnyc.com and by phone at 844-307-4644. Tickets range in price from $29.99 for kids to $99.99 for VIP Flex tickets, which comes with priority access, flexible admission, a limited-edition poster, a souvenir laminate, and a Van Gogh cushion. Basic timed tickets are $49.99. The new block of tickets will go on sale to the public Saturday, April 24 at 10 a.m. ET.
As the Official Card Sponsor of the Immersive Van Gogh in New York, American Express® Card Members can purchase exclusive PRIME tickets by visiting vangoghnyc.com.
