Van Gogh ‘alive’ in Kuala Lumpur

For art lovers and even those who are itching for new Instagram selfies, the world-renowned ‘Van Gogh Alive’ exhibition has finally reached Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the life and work of famous painter Vincent van Gogh.

The exhibition tours worldwide, having made waves in over 80 cities with 8.5 million visitors but Malaysia will be the first country to showcase the art pieces from an interactive perspective.

The curators for ‘Van Gogh Alive’, Grande Experience and Meta Doers World (MDW), are bringing a new initiative, leaving behind the traditional means of gallery visits for an immersive engagement with art.

“We don’t want people to just see Van Gogh’s paintings, we want people to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be in the dimension of his art,” said MDW’s chief marketing officer Ken Choo at the grand launch yesterday, Dec 15.

Choo said this is the first immersive exhibition in Malaysia, where artificial intelligence (AI) and computer projections will bring Van Gogh’s artworks to life.

Van Gogh was a Dutch painter who earned fame posthumously, becoming one of the most influential artists in the history of art.

The artist is considered by the public as a misunderstood genius. Due to his mental health struggles and poverty status, he did not gain commercial success and committed suicide at the age of 37.

He created over 2,000 paintings, one of which is ‘Starry Night’, an oil painting of the view from his asylum room in Southern France. This painting is also displayed at the exhibition.

Visitors will first be greeted with a room filled with sunflowers - a homage to Van Gogh’s 1887 ‘Sunflowers’ still-life series.

One of the installations also allows visitors to learn how to paint like the post-impressionist artist, sitting in front of an easel and following a projected video tutorial.

The corridor of fairy lights leads to a large room displaying all of Van Gogh’s pieces, accompanied by short summaries of each work written in Malay, English and Chinese.

The multi-sensory magic lies in the second section as an AI-altered portrait of Van Gogh greets the guest and says: “Welcome to my life.”

One of the installations lets people traverse the world of his art pieces through a virtual reality headset.

Before leaving, don't forget to stop by the 'Artist Camera', which takes pictures and turns them into paintings through AI software.

“We are in a very technology-dependent era, and this is the perfect way to mix old and new together.

“I hope to bring more exhibitions like this to Malaysia, from world-renowned artists to our local ones,” Choo added.

‘Van Gogh Alive’ will be open to the public tomorrow (Dec 17) to March 16, 2023, at Pavilion Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

For those who are interested in going, tickets can be purchased at www.vangogh.com.my. Take note that the prices are on the heftier side - RM75 for adults and RM110 for non-Mykad holders.

Children and senior citizens pay a lower price of RM68, and persons with disabilities only pay RM46.

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