'Beyond Van Gogh' show in Victoria extended to Sept. 30

There's still lots of time to see and feel the dazzling 'Beyond Van Gogh' immersive experience in Victoria.

The virtual reality journey featuring the masterpieces of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh opened June 20 and was originally set to close on Aug. 20.

However, due to popular demand, it's been extended to Sept. 30.

Van Gogh (1853-90) was the post-impressionist painter as well known for his insanity (he famously cut off his own ear) and suicide as he is for his instantly identifiable paintings.

Some of those famous masterpieces are Sunflowers, The Starry Night, The Bedroom in Arles, Irises, Almond Blossoms and Cafe Terrace at Night, numerous self portraits and numerous portraits of everyday people.

In fact, some of the self portraits show the artist with a bandage over the missing-ear wound.

The portraits of others are male and female, young and old, rich and poor -- basically anyone who would sit for Van Gogh because he was too poor to pay models.

Van Gogh is revered for his thick brush strokes, vibrant colours and a touch of abstract to the real-life people, objects, landscapes and skyscapes he portrayed.

Those pieces are some of the 300 artworks that are projected on the walls, floor and three 3-sided panels in a 30,000-square-foot space in the purpose-built Starry Night Pavillion (it looks like a big circus tent) at Bayview Place in Victoria West at 355 Catherine St.

It's a surreal scenario as the paintings are projected in full or close-up, as stills and as moving art, accompanied by an original score of classical music.

In all, four trillion pixels of high-resolution content is projected on the walls, floor and panels in a heady display that's dubbed 'masterpieces -- free of frames.'

That's right, while you see, feel and are totally immersed in 300 of Van Gogh's paintings, not a single masterpiece had to be moved out of an art gallery or museum to put on the Beyond Van Gogh show.

It's a way to bring famous art to the masses in a new, extravagant way.

Before coming to Victoria, Beyond Van Gogh was in Vancouver and was wildly popular and has also been a hit in 50 other cities in seven countries.

Emily in the Netflix hit show 'Emily in Paris' was blown away by a Starry Night immersive show, further amping up Van Gogh popularity and the popularity of walk-in light exhibitions.

There are also similar touring so-called walk-in immersive light shows spotlighting the works of other famous painters Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Frida Kahlo.

Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience is the brainchild of French Canadian creative director Mathieu St-Arnaud at Montreal's Normal Studio.

Tickets to Beyond Van Gogh in Victoria are $42 and available at www.vangoghvictoria.com.