Beyond Monet and Van Gogh in Nottingham — exhibition review
The immersive installations are visiting the city for the first time
The Beyond Monet and Van Gogh exhibitions at the Motorpoint Arena have to be among the most anticipated this year.
I was invited to visit both of these during the opening week – Monet during the press night and Van Gogh the following day. While I’m not an art connoisseur, I know plenty about events, and reviewed with my honest thoughts on the quality of the installations and the value for money.
If you’re looking for summer events going into July and August, these are highly unique and on until August 9 (from £25 adult, from £14 child, (beyondvangogh.co.uk). For more reviews and guides, subscribe to The Notts Edit to receive our articles in your inbox for free.
Beyond Monet and Van Gogh at the Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham — exhibition review
Words and photos by Eve Smallman
As someone who has not seen either artist’s work in real life before, I was excited when it was announced Beyond Monet and Van Gogh was coming to Nottingham. Often these big artistic events skip the East Midlands (there’s space between Birmingham and Manchester, FYI!), so the fact they were coming here was special. The events see work from the artists displayed on huge screens with moving pictures and music, creating an immersive experience.
It’s worth noting that the events take place on separate days and, after attending both, it’s clear to see why. The artists have two distinctive styles – Monet with his dreamy watercolours and Van Gogh with his striking portraits and landscapes – so they deserve to be appreciated separately. It also means the space can fully wrap itself in each artist, without compromise.
Both begin with some background text about the artists, which was appreciated, as many people (including myself) would be visiting without extensive knowledge of either. I also thought this made it excellent for families, turning a fun summer day out into something with a touch of education. I did think that the text – particularly the Monet text – felt a little AI, which I didn’t really appreciate for an event celebrating artwork. Hopefully my radar was wrong.
After reading the screens of information – less of a task for Monet than Van Gogh as those are laid out to manage larger queues – you’re welcomed into a waterfall area. When I visited during the press night, the Motorpoint team informed me that this bit is usually not visible to the audience, and is actually where the artists are before they go on stage for concerts at the venue.
It felt particularly fitting that this was the entrance for both of them. Both had mesmerising patterns cascading down for a soothing effect. I thought this worked better for Monet’s work as it is naturally flowier, and did question Van Gogh’s face melting down. But it is worth the pause for both.
From here, you’re welcomed into a giant room, filled with cushions and benches to watch the screens with. While the screens don’t reach the top of the ceiling, so not 100% immersion, for me at five foot two I was happy with the height. Both shows take around 25 minutes to watch in entirety, which is worth doing for the experience. However, if you are with little ones, it’s easy to naturally leave if you need to.
I enjoyed both of these for different reasons. With Monet, I went at a quieter time, but even still, the piano music, bobbing boats, and swishing florals were so soothing to watch. I can see why you could do Beyond Yoga here (tickets.motorpointarena.com). Sitting on the cushions was especially effective for feeling the artistic work unravel around me, from the walls to the floors.
Van Gogh felt more like a journey, going from peasant portraits to The Starry Night, and finishing in an explosion of petals. During this, I did wonder about the French child’s voice that would occasionally pipe up. While Van Gogh did speak fluent French, it might have worked better having actual explanations of the artwork throughout – even for both of them – to make it more educational.
Once you’re done, the journey finishes with the reflection room – aka the photo room – which has large sunflowers as a homage to Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and a walkable bridge as a homage to Monet’s Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies. This is a fun way to feel like you’re actually in one of the paintings, and is easier to capture lovely pictures of than the installation itself, which is far better just enjoyed rather than photographed.
Following from here, there is a kids’ colouring table so little ones feeling inspired can create their own works of art, as well as a reasonably priced gift shop for memories in poster, t-shirt, keyring format – although with an AI photo filter section at the end.
For both, I recommend visiting at off-peak times to save a few pounds (tickets from £14 child, from £25 adult) and for a more relaxing experience. They are quite expensive and comparably more so than, say, other attractions in the city like Nottingham Castle, where tickets are £18 for an adult, and kids go free (nottinghamcastle.org.uk), and are valid for a year. However, they are truly unique events, are on for a limited time, and clearly have taken a lot of work to organise, so I can see why they are the price they are.
On the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed both exhibitions in different ways, and recommend seeing either or even both if you’re looking for a magical event this summer – whether for a date, a treat with the kids, or simply your own musing. They make artwork highly accessible, and it’s amazing that they’re visiting our city.
Beyond Monet and Van Gogh are on at the Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham until August 9 (from £25 adult, from £14 child, (beyondvangogh.co.uk)
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