By Mark Kennedy, Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Acres of water lilies will bloom on Wall Street this fall, at least digitally.
A massive, immersive exhibition celebrating French artist Claude Monet will make its U.S. debut in downtown New York starting in November, promising a multisensory experience that puts visitors as close to inside his iconic flower paintings as possible.
"Monet's Garden: The Immersive Experience" will splash the Impressionist pioneer's paintings across walls and floors of a spacious, one-time bank building and boost the effect by adding scents, music and narration in multiple language.
"To be able to address more than just two senses I think will immerse people a bit more," said Dr. Nepomuk Schessl, producer of the exhibition. "We certainly hope it's going to be the next big thing."
Visitors will be greeted by aromas of lavender and water lilies wafting in the air and learn much about Monet, who during his long life evolved from a gifted but slightly conventional landscape painter churning out realistic images to a painter whose feathery brushstrokes captured shifting light, atmosphere and movement.
"He was living right at the moment when photography was invented. So the whole world of art changed," said Schessl of Monet, who lived from 1840-1926. "Painting was not needed for documentary reasons anymore."
The exhibit will offer many of Monet's works, which vary from the rocky coastline of Normandy to haystacks and poplars, to the Japanese bridge and water lily-filled pond at his home in Giverny.
The exhibit begins Nov. 1 at the Seamen's Bank Building at 30 Wall Street and runs until Jan. 8. Tickets are on sale now, and Schessl hopes it will tour the U.S. in 2023.
The concept for "Monet's Garden" was developed by the Swiss creative lab Immersive Art AG in cooperation with Alegria Konzert GmbH. It has been shown in European cities such as Berlin, Zurich, Vienna, Hamburg and London.
In some ways, Schessl thinks a massive, 360-degree presentation of Monet's works fits with the artist's own intentions. After all, some of his paintings were intentionally massive.
"He wanted the spectator to completely immerse himself or herself into the painting," he said. "Maybe it's a little bit presumptuous, but I think that if he had our opportunity, he might have done it."
"Monet's Garden" comes a year after dueling traveling immersive exhibits of Van Gogh arrived in New York and also married his work with technology. Gustav Klimt's paintings have also been made immersive.
Schessl said technology — especially stronger processing power and high tech LCD laser projectors — make these immersive exhibits possible. He admits to checking out rival shows to ensure his team stays cutting edge, but he adheres to one rule.
"The content needs to be the star. The technology is our means to achieve something, but it never should only be the technology," he said.
8 Aspiring DPs Receive Emerging Cinematographer Awards
The International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) presented eight aspiring DPs with 2024 Emerging Cinematographer Awards (ECA) during a ceremony, screening and reception held on Sunday (9/29) in the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood.
Also during the ECA proceedings, Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC accepted the Distinguished Filmmaker Award. Prieto is a four-time Best Cinematography Oscar nominee--for Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, and Martin Scorsese’s Silence, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon.
In his opening awards ceremony remarks, Stephen Poster, ASC--who co-chairs the Guild’s ECA committee with Jimmy Matlosz--estimated that over the 26 years of the ECA, more than 200 up-and-coming lensers have garnered invaluable exposure and recognition early on in their careers. Submissions are open to Local 600 members who are not yet classified as DPs, and a panel of established ICG members from across the country assess the short film entries. The competition has intensified over the past two-plus decades. This year’s eight honorees and their short films were selected from 118 submissions.
The class of 2024 ECA honorees are:
–Dominic Bartolone for the short film Sweet Santa Barbara Brown
–Adam Carboni, INCOMPLETE
–Matthew Halla, The Unreachable Star
–Jessica Hershatter, Pirandello on Broadway
–Allen Ho, Iron Lung
–Nick Mahar, Sands of Fate
–Dylan Trivette, Bearing Witness: A Name & A Voice
–Andrew Trost, Bloom
These emerging cinematographers benefited from more than just the Sunday showcase in North... Read More