A+E INSIDE: <OVATION: A warm reception awaits dancer for return performance in her hometown. 3
BLACK
TIE INSIDE:
A NIGHT IN PARIS: Donors of Distinction debuts a Moulin Rouge-inspired gala. 8>
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT MARCH 10, 2022
YOUROBSERVER.COM
ART THAT’S
LARGER THAN LIFE You’ve seen Van Gogh paintings on walls and in museums. Now’s your chance to stand inside one. SPENCER FORDIN A+E EDITOR
T
he entire room is a canvas — and you’re part of it. Vibrant brushstrokes swirl upward and outward, simultaneously spreading beneath your feet and over your head. Unlike any museum experience you’ve had before, there is no frame or boundary separating you from the work of a master craftsman. That’s what it feels like to walk into the “Beyond Van Gogh” exhibit, which opened
at University Town Center on March 4. The exhibit, which has traveled all over North America, is in Sarasota for the next month, allowing plenty of time to stand amid a “Starry Night.” Fanny Curtat, an art historian connected with the exhibit, says people feel like they know Vincent Van Gogh because he’s achieved critical mass, but when they stand surrounded by his art, they’re treated to an entirely different perspective. “Oddly enough, people tend to know him for the darkness in his life. All of the pain and the struggle and the poverty,” says Curtat. “All of this is true, but only to a certain extent. And most importantly, that’s not what you see when you look at his work. You SEE VAN GOGH, PAGE 2
Spencer Fordin
A visitor to the exhibt stands inside one of Van Gogh’s many paintings featuring sunflowers.