MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A new exhibit coming to Graceland won’t have anything to do with Elvis, but with another iconic artist – Vincent Van Gogh. The traveling 'Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience' exhibit has sold more than 2.5 million tickets nationwide and now will make a pit stop in Memphis.
Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch impressionist artist who lived from 1853 to 1890 and is considered one of the most influential artists in history. His art gets a resurgence and a twist in 2022 in the exhibit brought to life by Normal Studios based out of Canada. Graceland has been waiting to host the exhibit for months.
“The first time we got the call about the possibility. All of us were like, 'this is a must see, and we've got to get it here,'” said Angie Marchese, Vice President of Archives and Exhibits for Graceland.
Beyond Van Gogh will live in the Graceland Exhibition Hall from March 25th to June 5th, and give the artists’ two-dimensional art a three-dimensional perspective with animated screens and hanging biographical information.
“It's one of those things that, you know, artists aren't really appreciated until after they're gone. And Van Gogh definitely was that type of artist. And his artwork literally is iconic,” Marchese said.
Now visitors can experience that art themselves – in more than 300 pieces woven into 4 trillion pixels using music and Van Gogh’s own journaled thoughts. The exhibit also explains how Van Gogh's work relates to today's art landscape.
The exhibit is broken up into three parts. The first being the introduction hall which takes visitors through biography, history and quotes from Van Gogh. Those lead down the hall to the Waterfall Room, full of splashes of color and light that flow down the wall into pictures, including a self portrait of Van Gogh.
The last room is the Immersive Experience - 360 degree look into hundreds of Van Gogh Paintings weaving in and out of each other and animated.
"I have learned so much about Van Gogh. So many people only know the surface information about him, but actually being able to be immersed in his artwork, hear his thoughts, and actually explore the artwork really gives you a different level of appreciation for who he was," Marchese said.
Visitors can live their own version of "The Starry Night," "Sunflowers" and "Café Terrace at Night" right on Elvis Presley Boulevard.
Tickets are available at vangoghmemphis.com/.
RELATED: Memphis Art Lovers should mark their calendars- the Beyond Van Gogh exhibit is coming to Graceland