Skip to content

Van Gogh: 'Technical glitches' delay UK projection premiere

Chadi Abou Sariya Van Gogh projectionsChadi Abou Sariya
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience has already exhibited in Belgium and Italy

The UK premiere of a projection display featuring the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh has been delayed due to "a few technical glitches".

The exhibition, at St Mary's Church in York, was due to start earlier, but has now been delayed, organisers said.

Creative director, Mario Iacampo, said the delay was due to issues with some of the "cutting edge technology" used to project the images onto the walls.

He was confident it would be fixed, and said the display will open on Monday.

"Although we have staged the exhibition in Naples and Brussels, and opened last week in Beijing, a few technical glitches mean that the experience isn't quite ready," Mr Iacampo said.

"We know from our previous outings that we can offer an experience that wows, and each time we use a new venue, we adapt the displays to complement the building.

"So (we) are planning to spend the weekend ironing out any glitches so it is perfect on Monday," he added.

Chadi Abou Sariya Van Gogh projectionsChadi Abou Sariya
Walls, floors and ceilings are used as a canvas for the projections

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience runs until January 2020 and features more than 200 animated paintings projected onto walls, floors and ceilings.

The 35-minute 360-degree projection tells the story of the Dutch 19th Century post-impressionist artist and his work.

Anyone with pre-booked tickets will receive a full refund, or can swap their tickets for a future date, Mr Iacampo said.

Presentational grey line

Vincent Van Gogh

  • Born in 1853 in the Dutch village of Zundert
  • Worked as an art dealer and took up painting himself in his 20s but struggled to sell his art
  • Cut off his own ear in 1888 and died from a gunshot wound in July 1890 in an apparent suicide
  • Produced more than 2,000 artworks including about 850 oil paintings
  • In the 20th Century he became regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western art
  • The auction record for a Van Gogh painting stands at $148.9m (£95m) for Portrait of Dr Gachet, which was sold in 1990
Presentational grey line

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]

All images copyrighted.