‘Hamilton’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ designer David Korins joins multi-media exhibit Immersive Van Gogh as creative director
Immersive Van Gogh, a multi-media digital art exhibition, will be making its New York City debut on June 10 with a 70,000-square-foot facility located at Pier 36 on Manhattan’s lower east side.
Award-winning Broadway designer David Korins, who designed the set for “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen,” was announced as the exhibit’s creative director in an April 23 virtual press conference.
“We could probably fit 10 ‘Hamiltons’ inside of this,” Korins said about the size of the New York installation. “Everybody’s been kind of shivering with anticipation about the art world and the live world coming back.”
Korins revealed his plans for the exhibit, in which he’ll create sculptures for both the interior and exterior Immersive Van Gogh public spaces. The main lobby will feature an elaborate, three-dimensional depiction of “The Starry Night” crafted of 7,500 brushes dipped in paint and an oversized portrait of Van Gogh, according to Korins.
He will add tiered observation platforms within the exhibit, mirrored sculptures and secret spaces for guests to discover as they explore the program. He is excited to design for the exhibit, which differs from a Broadway show because it’s tethered to Van Gogh’s body of work rather than a linear narrative.
“It feels like a revelatory return,” he said. “For me, the joy is multipart. Getting to get back to make a live event for the city I live and work in is an incredible idea and feeling.”
Joining Korins during the press conference were producer Corey Ross, composer Luca Longobardi and Christopher Heywood, executive vice president of global communications for NYC and Company.
Longobardi composed the score to accompany 60,600 frames of video, 90,000,000 pixels and more than 500,000 cubic feet of projections in the digital art exhibit.
“The work focuses on the man behind the artist,” Longobardi said about his experience writing the compositions. “It really made me feel alive, especially during this last year with everything this past year being so difficult for artists.”
Immersive Van Gogh offers guests the opportunity to step inside the work of 19th-century artist and experience his post-Impressionist work. Precautions against COVID-19 have been put in place within the exhibit through designated distancing circles and timed-admission tickets.
The exhibit has opened to critical acclaim in Toronto, Chicago and San Francisco over the past year. Additional openings are scheduled for 16 cities across North America, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas and more.
Since Immersive Van Gogh’s premiere in July 2020, more than 1.5 million tickets have been sold for the exhibit.
“Immersive Van Gogh’s premiere in New York, which very appropriately happens to be the biggest version of the exhibit ever created, comes at a very exciting time for our city, as we launch the most ambitious marketing plan in our history to accelerate tourism recovery,” Heywood said in a press release. “Immersive Van Gogh is exactly the kind of demand generator we need, that will instill a sense of urgency and act like a catalyst to bring the masses back to New York City.”
Korins said he is thrilled to join the creative team for the Pier 36 location, and he is looking forward to delivering the immersive experience to New York audiences.
“It’s a beautiful, full-circle moment. I have learned so much about the man, so much about his life, so much appreciation – and I feel humbled to be a part of his work,” Korins said. “I just think people are going to have fun. My hope is that they’re changed a little bit, that they have fun. (I hope) it becomes a conversation piece.”