The Modigliani VR: The Ochre Atelier, a personal experience..

By Tiziana Maggio / Article published on Look Lateral

I have to admit: I’m a bit of an exhibition nerd. When there is a new show in town, I do my research on the artist, on the works displayed, on the curator, on the curator’s statement, on the sponsors, etc.. Yep, I want to be ready to absorb all the knowledge possible from the display and immerse myself in it.

With Modigliani’s exhibition at Tate Modern, I stuck to my routine with all the more passion, given the Italian connection, and my soft spot for the elongated necks of his female portraits. Oh, and then there was also what recently happened with the Modigliani exhibition in Genoa, where police found that 20 of the 21 works displayed were forgeries (no comment). This last event made me think on how sometimes the urge or vanity to curate and organize a blockbuster exhibition can lead to failing results.

So here I am, strolling happily through the beautiful rooms of the Tate, browsing from the sketched Caryatids to the Chinese Terracotta Army-like display of the head sculptures to the reclining nudes on cushions paintings, until I pass by a small room, seemingly empty, but with a long queue and a ‘minimum 30 minutes wait’ sign. It was the The Modigliani VR: The Ochre Atelier room.

Considering my geeky old-school approach to exhibitions, I thought ‘No way, I am not going to queue for something artificial and not related to Amedeo!’

However, when I visited the exhibition for the second time, armed with a little more patience and hi-tech curiosity, I queued for the room. After 10 minutes, I was buckled up on a VR headset and immersed in Modigliani’s small Ochre atelier in Paris – his last before passing.

As soon as ‘I was in the studio’, sitting on a virtual chair, I felt the urge to stand up and virtually browse through the paintings I could see, to peek from the window, and reach out for the rain. Saying that I was like a little girl in a fantastic gluten-free patisserie is an understatement.

Created by games company Preloaded, the experience is mind-blowingly captivating: with just a look at the virtual indicated objects, the artist’s friends and Tate’s experts will start talking to you, giving immersive insights on his art and life, based on meticulous historical and technical research.

What I have experienced is a full VR immersion into art and history, from humble insights into the artist’s daily life like wine bottles and cans of sardine on the floor to a long-lasting testimony of his talent like two of his late works, Jeanne Hébuterne 1919 and Self-Portrait 1919, all in Modigliani’s small and modest space.

When it came to the end, I felt like I had experienced something completely new and empowering, an epiphany almost. This VR experience made me think about the evolution in the exhibition business: from the paper guides to the audio guide to the VR reality. Also, this technology is definitely answering the millenials’ needs and lifestyle habits. It’s enriching the traditional exhibition experience moving towards a more holistic gallery offer, where is not just the art to talk about the artists but also his lifestyle and living and working spaces too.

The EY Exhibition: Impressionists in London,    Tate Britain, London

by Tiziana Maggio

A very familiar story of talented people who had to flee to Britain to escape war in France

In Brexit times, this exhibition is a very useful reminder of how Britain was perceived by some talented people, threatened in their own countries. Britain was the place to be, to emerge and to be appreciated more than anywhere else in Europe at that time.

Nowadays, can we still say the same?

Without getting too political, this exhibition is an incredible collection of great pieces by DeNittis, Monet, Tissot, Sisley, Derain and Legros.

Go: if you want to have the great confirmation that art has always been with no barriers or borders. 

Don’t go: if you think that history doesn’t teach us much.

Robert Rauschenberg Exhibition, Tate Modern, until 2 April 2017

When you studied a little bit of American Contemporary Art but everything feels blurry but exciting, you go to the Robert Rauschenberg Exhibitions.

The interest, the number of mesmerised people visiting and reading and staring then, convince you that you are in the right show.

But then, images become less and less communicative, to you only apparently, and videos of dancers are not able to uplift you from the very much craved white rabbit hole.

Go: To learn at least one name for the American Modern Art movement.

Don't Go: if you need cardboard for your moving and you feel they could have a better use with you instead of at the Tate.

LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, 2016? No, Thank you.

The art displayed at LAPADA 2016 was like your bookshelf: you know your books, you know the story and you know if they are interesting or NOT.

When you are tired of them though, you display some always fashionable Lalique vases, some overpriced African art and vintage diamond rings.

Done! the fee for the stand is almost covered.

Don't go: if you have some gardening to do.

Go: if you missed all the Art Fairs in 2015 and 2016.

Painting by Phil Shaw.  (Same old same old.)