New Vincent van Gogh Immersive Experience opens in Tampa

Vincent van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibit

FOX 13's Barry Wong gives us a sneak peek into the new exhibit that is using today's technology to highlight Vincent van Gogh's classic work.

TAMPA - A new 20,000-square-foot traveling exhibition, Van Gogh The Immersive Experience, uses today's technology to highlight the renowned painter's classic work.

"When we look at a Van Gogh painting, we know what we're looking at, but what we see is something presented in an entirely different way," Exhibition Hub Chief Creative Officer John Zaller said.

The new ways include small immersive theaters, three-dimensional displays and a 360-degree, two-story immersive room. Those experiences are in addition to text panels and reproductions of 400 of his paintings.

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"We always try and create the biggest, most engaging spectacle possible because that's really what gets people at their core, this emotional connection to whatever the subject matter is," Zaller said.

The backstory:

Vincent van Gogh passed away in July 1890. Many of his nearly 900 paintings were created during the last decade of his life, including "Starry Night."

"Van Gogh is an artist whose work is immediately relatable and also still is revolutionary. His brushstrokes and his use of color and his use of composition immediately call to us emotionally," Zaller said.

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While that painting and his other famous ones are featured, Zaller hopes visitors will learn new information as they walk through the exhibition, including Van Gogh's mental health struggles.

"What we ask in this exhibit is if the tools had been available today in Van Gogh's time, would he have been able to live a longer life, a more fulfilling life, and created so many more artworks for us? Zaller said. "He really did focus the pain he felt into creating beauty. That was his outlet. We also want to create awareness for those who are struggling with mental health issues, that there are ways to deal with those issues, to address those issues, to live a more fulfilling life."

The exhibition ends with an opportunity for visitors to create their own Van Gogh-inspired art.

"Our hope when someone comes to Van Gogh The Immersive Experience is that they'll come away with a deeper understanding of the artist himself, but also that they'll come away with a connection of the artist within them as well who's been awakened through such an incredible experience," Zaller said.