One of the entrance images with faux fur and paint.
When I was teaching art in London,
I was able to take my class to an important landscape exhibition. Their assignment was to imagine that they were actually in the painting and design
what activities they would do there for a day… a picnic, a swim, a stroll, a
rock concert, a masked ball. They had to place themselves inside, wandering
around, noticing their surroundings. Twenty-five years later, this experience
would be made much easier for them with Beyond Van Gogh. But instead of our
own imagination, we are invited inside the creative mind of Vincent Van Gogh.
Fanny Curtat, the Art History
Consultant for this show, believes events like this might lead reluctant museum
goers to seek out the original works that inspired so much effort by her team. Normal
Studio with thePaquin
Entertainment Groupand Primo Entertainment who put together Beyond are just
one of several conglomerates that have packaged the Van Gogh legacy. This one has
a large educational component and calls upon it own creative tech artists to
imagine the works and words coming together with music and animation for a
truly impressive presentation.
Ms.
Curtat was careful to emphasis that the Beyond Van Gogh does not concentrate on
his self-mutilation, but instead takes you from darker days to huge burst of
joy and color. There is a room of lighted text, followed by a space filled with
a moving waterfall of color to accustom
you to the final large room with about a 35 minute sequence of images. You can
come in at any stage and you might want to repeat parts by quietly sitting on
anyone of the benches that seem to be lifted from the style of a Van Gogh
room.
Outside entrance to the Wyland Center at the Del Mar Fairgrounds
It would be great for every child in San Diego to have the chance to be awed by this display
Boy genius
Words from his trove of letters are brought to life.
Waterfalls of color are created by the artist techs.
Fanny Curtat, Art History Consultant
In November, Van Gogh had his most successful auction month ever, also leading to a yearly record. One outstanding lot was his Young Man with Cornflower, which sold for $46.7 million - having been estimated at only $5 million - $7 million. You can buy your own little bit of Vincent memorabilia in the extensive gift shop at the end of the show.
Xuchi Naungayan Eggleton Dr. Reuben Shaw Elegant simple shape, complicated materials and construction
Marcos Ramírez ERRE, the De La
Torre Brothers, Siobhan Arnold, David Adey, Xuchi Naungayan Eggleton, Debby and Larry Kline,
Mely Barragan, Christopher Puzio, Cesar and Lois Collective and Wendy Maruyama. Now that is a major line-up of talent and they do
not disappoint. Curated by Chi Essary and with an absolutely stunning catalog, we
were pleased to see this show before it closed. Hopefully this report and the catalog
will be a permanent memory of such talent coming together.
The show is a trifecta because these artists were
each assigned to a different endowed chair scientist recipient at the Salk
Institute. The endowment ($3 million for each chair) is the patron part of the
title. These scientists are working on cures for disease and asking those
important questions like why do we age, how can we save the planet? What the artists (even ERRE) all
discovered was that answers did not come in black and white. The research has
shown that finding one answer might lead to more complications. So thank
goodness we have these beautiful visual images to remind us that life is good and with
that beauty comes hope.
Xuchi Naungayan Eggleton (detail)
Wendy Maruyama Dr. John Reynold Ripples of memories reflected in the mirror like surface, more distorted as the piece progresses.
Wendy Maruyama
Wendy Maruyama (detail)
Mely Barragan Dr. Kay Tye Trying to connect biologically or culturally.
David Adey Dr. Jan Karlseder Dolly the cow entangled in loops of knowing and unknowing,
Cesar and Lois Collective Dr. Joanne Chory Proposing an artificial intelligence that learns from nature not from humans.
Marcos Ramírez ERRE Dr. Clodagh O'Shea Trying to make a black and white world that we can control,
Marcos Ramírez ERRE (detail)
De La Torre Brothers Dr. Gerald Shadel The good changes to the bad changes to the good changes to the bad.
De La Torre Brothers
De La Torre Brothers (detail)
Christopher Puzio Dr. Geoffrey Wahl Metaphors within metaphors,
Christopher Puzio (detail)
Siobhan Arnold Dr. Susan Kaech A secret little message inside of every lymph gland.
Siobhan Arnold (detail)
Debby and Larry Kline Dr. Thomas Albright Truth hidden and revealed and hidden and revealed.
Trifecta: Art, Science, Patron La Jolla Historical Society Wisteria Cottage Gallery
780 Prospect Street, La Jolla HOURS: Wed-Sunday, 12-4 p. m. through January 16. Free admission.
