It is time for the Brighton Festival again and the first thing announced this year is Van Gogh Alive exhibition at the Corn Exchange. This is an immersive exhibition that attempts to put you inside some of Van Goghs most famous paintings.

Vincent Van Gogh was one of the most influential post impressionist painters of the nineteenth centure. He was notorious for not really selling any paintings when he was alive and cutting his ear off. His most famous paintings include a self portrait, Sunflowers and The Starry Night.

The exhibition has so far attracted over 8.5 million visitors across 80 cities worldwide. It is partly an educational look at the artist and his work and partly an instagram friendly attempt to bring his greatest hits to life.

The main SENSORY4™ Gallery is a large room with huge ceiling high projections of his paintings. There is also a recreation of his bedroom as well as a mirror room full of his iconic sunflowers.

What with the emphasis on mental health these days, it will be interesting to see how they approach Vincents life and behaviour. He suffered psychotic episodes, was institutionalised a few times and did cut off his ear. Whether he would have been as good an artist without this is up for debate.

Some friends saw this in London last year and said it was really good. It has been travelling around as we nearly saw it in York.

This exhibition also marks the reopening of the Corn Exchange, a part of the Brighton Dome complex that has been under renovation for the last few years.

Photos vangoghaliveuk