Todd Interests Brings Van Gogh to the East Quarter
Immersive Van Gogh opens Saturday in the former Masonic Temple.
By Maria Lawson
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The word art is quickly becoming synonymous with projects developed by Dallas-based Todd Interests—take a peek into the commercial real estate firm’s project The National, and you’ll know exactly what we mean. This makes it no surprise that the original Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit has landed in the East Quarter.
The team behind Immersive Van Gogh says when looking for new locations, they lean toward sites that are unique culturally and architecturally. Patrick Todd’s East Quarter vision and the 80-year-old Masonic Temple (now operating as Lighthouse Artspace Dallas) on Harwood and Young lured them in.
Todd’s vision for the once “sleepy area” has been centered around blending the neighborhood’s historic structures with modern technology. Now named Lighthouse Dallas, the former Masonic Temple will be home to several art installments to come, Todd told D CEO. Construction for a park to link the temple to the rest of the quarter will begin next month.
Created by Italian film producer Massimiliano Siccardi, Immersive Van Gogh features 60,600 frames of video totaling 90 million pixels. Fun fact, there is enough fiber optic cabling to stretch to Fort Worth. The artists behind the project say they designed it to feel like Van Gogh is speaking to the viewer. The booming music by Italian multimedia composer Luca Longobardi that plays alongside the dancing art also helps create an emotional journey.
The 30,000-square-foot exhibit is made up of three rooms with digitized art stretching from floor to ceiling. Featuring images from Van Gogh’s 2,000+ lifetime catalog of masterpieces, including Mangeurs de Pommes de Terre (The Potato Eaters, 1885), Nuit étoilée (Starry Night, 1889), Les Tournesols (Sunflowers, 1888), and La Chambre à coucher (The Bedroom, 1889), the paintings were presented “how the artist first saw the scenes”—with active life and moving landscapes turned into Van Gogh’s brush strokes.
The images and sound start hard and strong, but as the exhibition progresses, it transitions into some of Van Gogh’s softer pieces with more ethereal music. It then moves into a more whimsical piece, with something in the showcase for everyone. David Korins, who’s received awards for his design work on Hamilton and Dear Evan Hanson, is the creative director.
Immersive Van Gogh will be in East Quarter through Oct. 3. Tickets for the one-hour experience start at $39.99 and can be purchased at dallasvangogh.com.
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