The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2021 - Issue 30

biteexhibition seven canvases in 1888-89, this time depicting the sunflowers in vases; one of which disappeared during the Second World War. Van Gogh was troubled throughout his life with mental health issues (epilepsy and schizophrenia) which became more fre- quent and violent. Some of his paintings bear the marks of his unstable, tormented personality. Excessive tobacco and alcohol, tiredness and health problems made his condition worsen which led to the cutting his ear episode. While he was at the institution, he suffered several devastating epileptic fits that prevented him from working and left him bedridden for weeks. In the Starry Night video, the narration explained what made the artist’s work stand out and what draws our eyes to his paintings again and again. He placed style front and centre in the painting that made it a post-impressionist masterpiece. “The curved lines are meant to bounce our eyes between the stars but a closer look reveals that the painting is composed of short, sharp brushstroke so that in his words, ‘their lines are contorted like those of an- cient woodcuts.’” What makes Starry Night unique is the way the artist used col- our. He contrasted the darkness of the village where a few win- dowpanes of light could be seen with the swirling brightness of the night sky. It is said: “the darkness of the village echoed the closeness of his little room and the claustrophobia of his depres- sion while the sky reminded us of the brilliant light of the uni- verse and a greater meaning shining down upon us. This made some sense compared to Van Gogh’s earlier attempt at capturing the night sky.” The video also describes the painting as the “most wonderful interpretation of human suffering into something beautiful and beyond the frame of words.” It continued to say the painting could be framed by colour and composition, and no one used colour in a more impressive and confounding way than Vincent van Gogh. They believe he may have been colourblind and per- haps his odd use of colour created congruity, where he saw fewer colours than most people. Indeed, his colouration is both inspiring and fascinating: the bright yellows, reds, blues and greens collaborated with the con- trast of dark hues such as in his Café Terrace At Nigh t, Wheatfield with Crows, The Siesta, Irises, Vase with Daisies and Poppies and Self Portrait With Beard paintings . There are so many fascinating artworks of his to admire that it is disheartening that he only sold one painting during his lifetime, yet his popularity grew tre- mendously after his death. Van Gogh’s final art entitled Tree Roots was painted just hours before he shot himself. Critics believe that this painting came from an earlier fascination with abstract art but in May 2020, Wouter van der Veen, scientific director of the Van Gogh In- stitute discovered an image amongst several old postcards of a landscape in Auvers-Sur-Oise, Paris. It was photographed be- tween 1900 and 1910 and the shrubs featured the same roots as those in van Gogh’s last painting. Van der Veen instantly recognised it as the location of the mys- terious painting. At first glance, the work seems to consist of a muddle of bright colours and abstract forms. Yet, in the post- card, identical tree trunks and roots could be seen along the ground slope. “Because this painting was unreadable until now, we did not see what was happening. Now we know that this is something completely banal that Vincent van Gogh observed along the edge of a road.” The last testament in the form of a final canvas, he concluded. A construct of the artist’s bedroom and picture of the Yellow House in Arles gives you an idea of his living arrangements. He lived there between February 1888 and December 1890 and built his first studio. "The dominant object of this oil painting [ The Bedroom] is the solid and simple bed.” Seemingly violating the rules of perspective, van Gogh explained the delicate choice to his brother, Thèo. He wished to ‘flatten’ the interior leaving out the shadows so that his picture resembled the Japanese prints he admired. Visitors can enjoy a one-of-a-kind VR 360-degree immersive voyage that walks you through eight of van Gogh’s works in A Day in the Life of the Artist in Arles, France. You feel like you’re in a different world as you awaken in his bedroom, walk down the stairs to leave the house, through the fields and down to the starry riverside. Each painting you stop at including The Siesta, Wheat Field with Crows and WheatField with Cypresses reveals the artist’s inspiration. It was magical! The most extraordinary highlight of the exhibition is the interac- tive immersive experience itself. Seated in a sizeable room either on the benches or in the deckchairs, or even standing, you are enthralled watching van Gogh’s work come alive on the walls and ceiling. It was so mesmerising that I could not help but be in awe of what he had achieved - words can hardly express the overwhelming beauty of his paintings and the peace that came with watching these spectacular displays. With a beautiful starry sky overhead, Japanese prints, huge sun- flowers ascending to the sky, wagons careering across the fields on large acres of land past farmhouses, self-portraits of the artist, flocks of birds flying across the sky; it was all so beautiful. Sway- ing trees, flower petals falling, a glorious glow around the moon and the darkness of the village that surrounded his asylum; it was both an explosion of bright colours and dark contrast. As the boats move slowly across the river and the reflection of the moonlight lit its surface, you somehow wish you could be in that painting. Then suddenly, the scene is taken over by Roman Doric and Ionic columns that symmetrically build themselves over time until it fully completes all four walls. First, there are colourful lights between the arches, with lightning striking, and then darkness descends showing the artist’s self-portraits inter- change with shadowy objects and flashing lights. Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience is available globally in ma- jor cities in Europe, the UK, North America, Asia and the Mid- dle East. https://vangoghexpo.com