Arts This Week: The immersive world of Van Gogh and a poet laureate's new collection

Imagine Van Gogh — Person sits and observes Vincent Van Gogh's "Wheatfield Under Thunder Clouds" painting in the Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.

January 07, 2022

Updated August 09, 2023

This week, GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen talks poetry, a new kind of flower power by way of Vincent van Gogh and how the local arts scene is riding out another wave of COVID-19.

Immersive, interactive exhibitions of Vincent van Gogh’s work have been churning through the country and the growing popularity could have something to do with the Netflix hit, " Emily In Paris," where audiences are introduced to the concept of a multi-sensory experience. Now two of these exhibitions are in Boston: "Van Gogh The Immersive Experience" at The Strand and "Imagine Van Gogh" at SoWa's Power Station. Bowen recently immersed himself at "Imagine van Gogh," where audiences walk among towering screens and more than 50 HD projectors displaying the artist's legendary paintings.

Large golden brush strokes are projected onto the ceiling, floor and walls of a large gallery space. — Scenes from the "Imagine Van Gogh" exhibit.

“The exhibition takes audiences into the last two years of van Gogh's life, where he had this explosion in artistic process and creation," says Bowen. "You don't get his masterpieces as he necessarily painted them, but you get senses of how he painted as you get fractions of flowers and not fields, you see faces but not full figures and you get just a sense of the sea. But just a sense of what that allows you to do is really dive into how he painted and almost how he sculpted in paint as you see these brush strokes. It’s not just all around you, it's on you because of these projections. “

This exhibition is the work of Annabelle Mauger and Julien Baron, who have collaborated on other immersive shows.

" Imagine Van Gogh" at the SoWa Power Station. On view at the SoWa Power Station through March 19th

Bowen describes "Such Color: New and Selected Poems" — the new book from former US Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith — as a life-spanning collection of poems, which culminates in a series of new work. Bowen recently spoke with Smith about the book, which he says is evocative, powerful and deeply relevant.

“I think part of the reason poetry is resonating so much is for its seeming simplicity. In just a few words, it can capture the whole essence of a time, a feeling, a sense of an entire nation," says Bowen. "That's exactly what Tracy K. Smith does so brilliantly in this book. She is somebody who has always looked kind of inward to understand herself, her family life. There are a lot of poems here just about our society, but also about her parents that I think can deeply resonate with any of us.”

Jared Bowen and Tracy K. Smith — Jared Bowen (left) and Tracy K. Smith pose for a photo after recording for GBH's Open Studio

' Such Color: New And Selected Poems' - A collection of poems by Tracy K. Smith, now available

The omicron surge is having a severe impact on the arts sector, again. Bowen says he feels like he’s back in March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, reporting on the arts and seeing cancellations spreading through the arts community.

“I spoke with Paul Daigneault. He's the artistic director of Speakeasy Stage Company, who told me that stress is through the roof among his actors for a show that they were about to launch. And it's just because, of course, they have to be unmasked in a dark room with a whole bunch of people together," Bowen says. "So they, along with a number of other organizations, have now postponed their productions, which were supposed to open. They are trying to be safe for themselves, and they’re trying to be safe for us. It's just all terribly unfortunate, of course, because we shouldn't be here.”

Here is a list of some of those performances and exhibits seeing delays and closings:

Inside a large, grand theater, looking up into the empty seats and mezzanine. — Inside the empty Emerson Colonial Theatre auditorium.

· Actors Shakespeare Project has postponed its production of "The Bomb-itty of Errors"
· SpeakEasy Stage Company has rescheduled the run of "People, Places & Things" for a Feb. 11 opening
· Lyric Stage Company of Boston has delayed the opening of "Mr. Parent" until Jan. 14 to reduced capacity.
· Central Square Theater is delaying its production of "Young Nerds of Color" by two weeks and now starts Feb. 17.
· Capella Clausura is moving its Jan. 15 & 16 performances of "Renaissance Women" online.
· Club Passim annual Boston Celtic Music Festival moves online Jan. 13-16
· Peabody Essex Museum will remain closed through Jan. 13citing the “precipitous rise in COVID cases.”