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Los Angeles based immersive technology company delivers groundbreaking experience forever preserving Fairey’s “DAMAGED” exhibit for art fans globally.
VRt Ventures, in partnership with Shepard Fairey and Juxtapoz Magazine, today announced the launch of “DAMAGED,“ a VR/AR immersive experience allowing fans to step inside Shepard Fairey’s largest solo exhibition to date. Preserving the famed artist’s work in perpetuity, the experience will be available for download today on 5 major platforms, including Oculus, Samsung Gear and Steam in VR, as well as on the iOS App store for Apple mobile devices and on the Google Play store for Android mobile devices.
Through mobile devices and VR headsets, The “DAMAGED” mobile App experience gives art fans access into Shepard’s“DAMAGED” exhibit, which enjoyed a jam-packed, limited run last year in Los Angeles. VRt Ventures used laser scanning and volumetric photogrammetry technology to accurately scan the entire exhibition space, giving users a fully immersive, authentic art adventure, enhanced by over 100 minutes of Shepard’s narration, as well as an AR feature that allows users to utilize their phones to navigate the exhibit at their own pace from their location.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Shepard Fairey on this project as his visionary thinking is so aligned with ours,” said Jacob Koo, CEO and Founder of VRt Ventures. “Our vision, which Shepard is helping us move forward, is to turn every museum, gallery and art exhibition into a virtual reality experience through our mobile app, preserving and archiving amazing exhibits, democratizing art and making it available for people all over the world to experience.”
“As an artist, I understand that no matter how much time I put into a solo exhibition, there is only a finite amount of time that people can experience it in person before it goes away forever,” said Shepard Fairey. “In partnering with VRt Ventures, I am excited to know that art fans all around the world will be able to experience my largest solo exhibit to date in a profoundly powerful way through the“DAMAGED” mobile app even though they weren’t able to make it to Los Angeles where it debuted last year. Making art accessible is very important to me and I am happy to partner with VRt Ventures who share my philosophy.”
The “DAMAGED” mobile App is available for download today for $4.99 via the iOS App Store and Google Play store for Android, and on Oculus, Samsung Gear and Steam in VR. Trailers for the mobile app and the mobile AR experience can be seen below:
App Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
AR demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
About VRt Ventures
Founded in 2017, VRt Ventures is focused on developing virtual reality (VR) applications that capture and archive artistic expression through the power of immersive technology. VRt Ventures’ first project, MOCA: Kerry James Marshall, stays true to that mission, featuring an exhibition from the renowned artist as seen at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. This one-of-a-kind virtual experience opens up the highly-sought after works of the artist to the masses, forever preserving its impact, long after the closure of the exhibition.
The MOCA: Kerry James Marshall immersive experience is available for free on the Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus, and downloadable on PC and Mac.
For more information, please visit VRtVentures.art, or follow the company on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
About Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey was born in Charleston, South Carolina and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1989 he created the “Andre the Giant has a Posse” sticker that transformed into the OBEY GIANT art campaign, with imagery that has changed the way people see art and the urban landscape. His work has evolved into an acclaimed body of art, which includes the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Barack Obama, found at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. The artist collaborated with Amplifier in 2017 to create the We The People series, recognizable during the Women’s Marches and other rallies around the world, in defense of national and global social justice issues. Just recently, Fairey teamed up with Amplifier again to launch We The Future, a campaign featuring young leaders from social change movements, working to address important issues and get art and supporting education tools into more than 20,000 classrooms.
Fairey’s stickers, guerilla street art presence, and 85-plus public murals are recognizable worldwide. His works are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and many others.
The artist’s 2017 “Damaged” body of work was his largest-ever solo fine art exhibition and set record attendance for the opening as well as drawing an unprecedented number of visitors to the Los Angeles show. “Force Majeure” is Fairey’s most recent solo museum exhibition on view through November 4th at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art showcasing 400 artworks from throughout the artist’s career.
Shepard Fairey is currently working on shows and murals globally and planning for the 30-year anniversary of the OBEY GIANT art campaign.For more information, visit www.OBEYGIANT.com.
About Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine
Founded by artist Robert Williams in 1994, Juxtapoz Magazine has covered the ever-changing landscape of contemporary art, culture and design in the pages of their quarterly magazine, social media and website. It has become the most widely circulated art magazine in the United States, and become a major staple covering the international art scene as well. Telling the stories behind works of art, murals, products, books, museum and gallery exhibitions, Juxtapoz has documented the history of the underground and its rise to dominate the language of popular culture.
