In the 1880s, Vincent Van Gogh wrote this to his brother Theo: ‘there may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke coming through the chimney, and go along their way.’ There are no original Van Gogh canvases at Beyond Van Gogh, yet the exhibit offers much more of the warmth than the wisp of smoke Van Gogh feared.

Purported to be the longest-running single event at the SEC, generating an estimated £2.5m in economic value for the city, Beyond Van Gogh features over 300 digital projections of the post-Impressionist icon’s paintings, accompanied by a specially curated musical score that narrates his story. Here, the paintings move with you, swirling into existence, just as warm, just as alive, almost as if the artist has only recently left them out to dry. For Van Gogh took to painting not to replicate what was before him but to communicate what was inside him. His artistic desire lay in bringing his portraits to life, to project movement in stillness through his iconic swirls. Modern day technology gives a new lease of life to this vision, taking the Dutchman’s efforts a step further as those swirls spring into action, breathing movement and vitality into his vibrant blues and yellows.

The exhibit is divided into two rooms, beginning with the Introduction Hall, where visitors can see the personal letters to Theo, projected onto digital renditions of his paintings. The context of any artwork is just as important as the art itself, and Beyond Van Gogh stands out in this regard, by offering us a combination of the two. And in the Immersive Room, paintings are freed from their frames. Orchestral music fills the space and it’s impossible not to be transported. Vibrant flowers, cafés and landscapes shift across life-sized projections on the walls and floor, making you feel as if you’re inside the art, rather than merely looking at it.

The vivid hues emanating from the screens stand stark against dark surroundings, a contrast Vincent himself might have appreciated. The artist once famously wrote ‘I often think that the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day’. It is fitting, then, that the exhibit conjures up the night itself, making us feel as if we are inside the artist’s troubled mind.

You can sit with a friend, admiring the art as much as being a part of it, feeling the warmth of the great fire in one artist’s soul. There is no denying that Beyond Van Gogh looks past the myth and the images, letting us venture into not just the work, but the mind of the man behind it all.

Beyond Van Gogh, SEC, Glasgow, until Monday 26 August; main picture: Andy Teebay.