The year 1890 marked a turning point in artist Claude Monet’s life—when he officially purchased his estate in Giverny in Northern France. Now, visitors can literally go through that time period in his life through the multi-sensory event, Claude Monet: The Immersive Experience at the Exhibition Hub Richmond Art Center.
“My goal is to share the story of Claude Monet in as much detail as possible,” says John Zaller, the event’s executive producer. “This is why we incorporate so much learning in the experience related to the times in which Monet lived and his personal struggles. Behind each great work of art is the story of a person overcoming insurmountable odds. The result is that the art and the personal story both inspire us.”
Zaller has been putting exhibitions together for 25 years, creating more than a dozen immersive experiences, and during that time there has been a great deal of change.
“It’s been quite the journey as so many new technologies have come available to serve storytelling, including the projection mapping and virtual reality techniques we use in this,” he says.
Immersive experiences based on projection mapping are relatively new and only really began to tour about five years ago. “But the techniques of immersive storytelling – taking you out of your everyday and placing you in an entirely new environment – have been around centuries,” Zaller says. “This is an updated version of that journey to another place without having to leave your backyard.”
Zaller and his team do their best to identify subjects that have a timeless quality but are also relevant to today’s audiences.
“Claude Monet is a great example of this, as his name is well known but experiencing his art always feels like a new encounter,” says Zaller, noting that the initial planning for this project was about two years. Each installation took about four weeks to complete.
The Monet exhibit takes visitors into the artist’s studio as well as his gardens in addition to presenting his works in a 360-degree immersive gallery where walls turn into dancing gardens.
Zaller hopes, he says, that people visiting “will come away with a better understanding of the artist and an inspiration to connect more deeply with the artist within each of them.”
Claude Monet: The Immersive Experience is located at the Exhibition Hub Richmond Art Center, 12151 W Broad St. in Henrico. For tickets and information, visit https://monetexpo.com/richmond
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