Immerse yourself in Claude Monet’s French garden without ever leaving Tacoma
Claude Monet may have been history’s first immersive painter. His famed “Water Lilies” canvases total 42 feet in length and are over 6 feet tall. He had, at one time, planned to place them in a room with curved walls.
Now, a century later, Tacomans can see what all the fuss is about without making a trip to New York or France. “Imagine Monet” is showing at the Tacoma Armory with more than 200 of the French impressionist’s paintings projected in a circular room on 16-feet-tall walls. Using high definition projectors, the show gives visitors a view of Monet’s work with enough detail to show his brush strokes.
The show’s producers, Tacoma Arts Live, have extended the run though Mother’s Day, May 12.
Immersive shows are all the rage across the world. But unlike some versions showing the work of painters whose copyrights have long expired — talking about you, Van Gogh — this show doesn’t manipulate or try to animate the art. Instead, the painter’s oeuvre is presented in a 30-minute loop on the space’s walls and floor in a more straightforward fashion.
The show was developed by French directors Annabelle Mauger and Julien Baron. The pair’s vision was to show the work in a calm and reflective space, according to Katie Lappier, Tacoma Arts Live’s education director.
“In a darker, rainy or blustery time of the season, we thought how nice to have kind of a warm, glowing, cozy refuge from the world outside,” she said.
The experience
Entry to the show is timed but visitors can stay as long as they want, said Chris Tubig, Tacoma Arts Live’s chief operating officer.
The lemon-shaped projection room seems smaller than the recent “Utopian Garden” show but that’s because it doesn’t use the mirrored walls that show used, Tubig said. The Monet show’s walls are several feet higher than Utopian’s. It uses 16 Panasonic projectors to produce the show.
Monet was a gardener as well as a painter. Visitors can still visit his garden in Giverny, France, where he painted many of his canvases. But Monet’s other well known subjects — London’s Houses of Parliament, poplar trees, Rouen Cathedral — are represented.
Images zoom in and out and slowly merge into one another. It’s all set to a musical soundtrack.
“The floor texture is sometimes of the painting and sometimes just sort of a supportive image,” Lappier said. When Monet’s haystack series is projected on the walls, hay is projected on the floor. The sometimes moving floor imagery can be disorienting for some visitors.
“My favorite moment is actually when snow falls in the exhibit and (on) the walls around you, you see little white snowflakes going all the way down and then it accumulates onto the floor,” Lappier said.
French village
Some show goers repeat the 1/2-hour look two or three times before leaving, Tubig said.
“I’ve seen some people just lie down,” Lappier said.
Before visitors enter the projection room, they first pass through an antechamber with educational panels about Monet and his work. When they leave, visitors pass through a French village town square, of sorts.
On a recent visit, show goers were trying on period French costumes, sitting at a table in a small recreation of Monet’s garden and making take home art projects. Souvenirs, food and drink are for sale.
If you go
What: “Imagine Monet” immersive exhibit.
When: Through May 12; Thursdays and Sundays, 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays; 10:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; Low sensory showing: First Saturday of April and May at 11:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
Where: Tacoma Armory, 1001 S. Yakima Ave., Tacoma.
Tickets: Weekdays: $34; Weekends: $39; Children under 5: Free. Tickets are timed entry.
Information: 253-346-1721, tacomaartslive.org/
