If you haven't heard much about Peterson,you soon will. Next year,the former high school teacher will open The Lume,a 2000-square-metre gallery in South Melbourne that accommodates 400 guests. His first exhibition features thousands of van Gogh's paintings,sketches and personal letters – but no original pieces. Instead,he'll beam the images onto giant curved walls and vast floors,with music and fragrance tailored to each period of the artist's life.
All up,Peterson will spend $15 million on 150 high-definition projectors,sound equipment,aroma diffusers and a commercial kitchen,bar and cafe.
"Any goose can project a picture onto a wall,"he says."What we're doing is linking all the human senses to create an emotional response. People might feel overwhelmed at first by the scale of it all but they certainly won't feel intimidated."
We’re not here to replace visits to traditional institutions.
Bruce Peterson,proprietor of The Lume gallery
After a stint teaching physical education at Mount Eliza Secondary College,Peterson created and sold various marketing,corporate leadership and luxury travel businesses. In 2006,he foundedGrande Exhibitions,which has toured immersive art shows in 138 cities. The company owns the Museo Leonardo da Vinci in Rome but The Lume is its first permanent gallery.
"We're not here to replace visits to traditional institutions,"Peterson says."We want to engage people in a different way. When you see a van Gogh in high definition with some subtle animation,you see every single brushstroke in detail. I hope that encourages people to visitmore galleries and museums."