*The “Monet-Immersive Experience” – Brick Lane London E1

A few weeks ago my London Shoes published a blog about an event that was (and still is) being held in a disused warehouse in Spitalfields-London E1 – that event was the “Van Gogh-Immersive Experience”.

The other day, London Shoes noticed that another similar event was due to open, this time in a building known as ‘The Boiler House’ just off the famous Brick Lane-London E1.

This new event was all about another famous artist – namely “Claude Monet” – and so, with an accomplice (my good lady wife Angela) my London Shoes took the opportunity to head off to Brick Lane to check-out the “Monet-Immersive Experience” – and this blog is all about how the visit panned out.

Claude Monet is a very famous painter – he was born in Paris in 1840 and went on to become, what is now referred to in art/painting terms as the ‘Father of Impressionism’.

The expression ‘Impressionism’ in simple terms means paintings that have been done outdoors and of outdoors things – as opposed to paintings posed for and done in a studio.

Impressionism is now seen as being one of the most important art movements in history – as it has influenced many current artistic styles and has inspired many artists.

Obviously, paintings depict static objects/beings – but what Monet attempted to do with his paintings was to bring them to life a bit – to show movement, by the use of displaying vibrant colour with different shades of shifting light and shadow – so that the viewer felt as though they were walking ‘into’ a painting.

In 1874 Monet exhibited his now famous painting “Sunrise” along with other works created by a group of like-minded artists.

However, the critics weren’t too keen on his work, saying that his paintings were ‘mere impressions’ which, in their opinions, just showed up how badly these new artists had been trained.

Claude Monet and his fellow ‘Impressionist’ artists stuck to their principals and continued to do things their way – things like not having the colour black on their palettes – arguing that there is no colour black in ‘nature’ – so why should it be in paintings.

Another painting style of the ‘Impressionists’ was to overload their brushes with paint and then ‘dab’ it on or swipe it on with erratic brush strokes – portraying the world as it looked at that very moment – light/shadows and all.

Claude Monet focused on how our eyes truly perceive the things they see in the natural world – and how colours and light of a topic or subject, can change throughout a day. His ‘Haystacks’(1891) and ‘Waterloo Bridge’ (1903) are classic examples of this style.

He was fascinated on the effects of light on colour – which is evident throughout most of his works.

His 1899 painting “Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies” is of the water lilies in the garden of his home in Giverny in Northern France. It is probably his most immediately recognised piece of work – and features an arched wooden footbridge over a pond that’s covered in floating water lilies and surrounded by lush greenery. It is a classic example of where Monet uses light and colour to a peaceful, dreamlike atmosphere. The painting is one of many works created by Monet featuring the water lilies.

But he didn’t just become famous for painting water lilies – his:- Poppies / Women in the Garden / The Thames below Westminster / San Giorgio Maggiore / The artists Garden at Giverny / Impression Sunrise…..are equally as famous.

Claude Monet died on 5^th Dec 1926 at the grand old age of 86, leaving a huge legacy of work, that is still marveled at and respected throughout the world today.

Immediately after his death, the French government displayed his last ‘Water Lillies’ series of paintings in specially constructed galleries in Paris – where they remain to this day.

So – on the back of visiting the ‘Van Gogh-Immersive Experience’ a couple of weeks ago – London Shoes wanted to check-out the similar ‘Monet-Immersive Experience’ – and so headed off to ‘The Boiler House’ in the famous Brick Lane-London E1.

Now – ‘The Boiler House’ venue is a huge old warehouse once used to store bricks. It dates back to the 1830’s, and is today viewed as being one of the most unique ‘entertainment’ type venues in London – hosting parties/exhibitions/dinners/ pop-up markets/trade shows etc – and so it’s is an ideal location for the ‘Monet-Immersive Experience’.

Inside the Boiler House, the ‘Monet-Immersive Experience’ followed more or less the same format and lay-out of the similar ‘Van Gogh’ one, just down the road in Spitalfields.

There were images of Monet paintings everywhere – with a room dedicated to replicating his famous ‘The Water Lily Pond’.

The actual ‘Immersive Experience’ room itself, projected a sequence of Monet’s finest works on the walls, ceiling and floor.

Relaxing in either the deck chairs/benches and cushions provided – a visitor can sit back and ‘immerse’ themselves in the paintings – and it is very much like you are ‘walking’ into the picture’…..a very enjoyable way of viewing and appreciating art.

Comparing the recently attended ‘Van Gogh’ event with this ‘Monet’ one – I have to say from my own personal point of view – the Van Gogh (in nearby Commercial Street-Spitalfields) was far superior, and better value for money – as it is larger – has much more content – it flows better – and its immersive room was a far more enjoyable experience.

Having said that – the Monet Immersive Experience is still worth a visit, as it definitely ‘educates’ a novice such as myself – and anything that raises awareness and an appreciation of such influential works of arts such as Monet’s and other legendary pencil squeezer’s paintings – is most definitely a worthwhile experience.

So – having spent a couple of hours enjoying the Monet-Immersive Experience it was time for a little refreshment – and as we were in Brick Lane, it felt only right to visit the famous 24hr ‘Beigel Bake’ – one of the 2 long standing beigel shops that have been in situ down Brick Lane for decades. Both are famous ‘stopping-off’ places in the wee small hours for something to eat, to soak up the booze – on the way home, following a night out ‘up west’ or on the tiles elsewhere. Having frequented the place frequently in my mid-teens, I can confirm that you certainly meet some strange people outside the ‘Beigel Bake’ (the ‘white’ one) and/or the ‘Beigel Shop’ (the ‘yellow’ one) at 3am in the morning.

However – today was just a normal lunchtime, and so me and my companion for the day, just bought a couple of beigels, and then found a convenient place on the Brick Lane pavement, to sit down and ‘fill the gap’.

On the way back to Liverpool Street Station, we popped into the infamous “Dirty Dicks” pub in Bishopsgate (opposite Liverpool Street Station) for a little liquid refreshment, before heading off back home.

Hope you enjoy this little story of the ‘Monet-Immersive Experience’ and that its accompanying photos helped bring it to life a bit.

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See below – the full gallery of photos taken to accompany this blog