The Energy of Color
In late September, I attended the Vincent van Gogh immersive exhibit in Charlotte with my brother, Bob, his wife, Teka, and my husband, Ray.
We entered an enormous space and sat down on a bench. We could sit anywhere in the room. It was pulsating with a wall of sound and enormous, constantly moving paintings by Vincent van Gogh.
The intense sound and visuals were intended to thrust you out of your small mind of personal worries and cast you into a world of fantastic, breath-taking beauty.
Though the seats were hard and uncomfortable (I think that was intentional, to keep attendees from lingering there all day), and I didn't care for the musical score -- it was a mishmash of musical genres that did not flow cohesively -- I was transfixed by the power of Vincent's work.
I loved having his paintings crash over me like a tsunami. They were constantly moving, dissolving one into another. Exuberant, so exuberant, most prominently featuring the radiant color of the sun, electric YELLOW.
Color is the only form of energy in the entire universe that we can see.
Vincent's paintings reveal that he saw vital energy in EVERYTHING. Did he see auras? I imagine so. Even inanimate objects like beds, chairs, and clothing, took on a whole vibrant life in Vincent's paintings. His amazing feat of capturing dynamic energy on canvas must have been why his work was singled out for this exhibit.
Vincent captured life's teeming energy & placed it on canvas.
One can only imagine how crazy his paintings looked to viewers of his day. So BOLD. So OUTRAGEOUS. Tragically, in his entire lifetime, Vincent van Gogh, master capturer of light and form, sold only ONE painting.
The Van Gogh immersive exhibit is happening throughout the world. Here's a fun fact: Charlotte's venue, an old Ford motor factory, is this exhibit's largest venue in the world. The photo below gives you a sense of how massive the space is. You're only seeing a fraction of the space here.
The Charlotte exhibit is located at CAMP NORTH END, which was originally a Ford Motor Co. factory and a military depot. This site, described by its developers as "76 acres of imagination," has been reclaimed for "startups, artists, and Fortune 500 companies.... Renowned chefs, trendsetting retail, and lively cultural festivals...In short, this place is hip. And fun.
I loved their use of color. The site exuded HAPPINESS. Check out the colorful images below.
After taking in the exhibit, the four of us strolled down to the restaurants at Camp North End. We had a delicious lunch sitting outside at a picnic table protected by an immense umbrella. A day immersed in stunning beauty, a delicious lunch outside on a picture-perfect day, shared with cherished loved ones. Ya just can't beat that.