The opening day of Perception Las Vegas in June was accompanied by a preview of summer heat. The freestanding attraction just north of Resorts World had just laid claim to being the Strip’s first digital art museum, and at 12:30 p.m. the doors opened to the public with its first exhibit, Leonardo: The Universal Man. Whether drawn by the curiosity about the brightly striped, yellow, black and white building itself or by the promise of a cool experience inside, visitors encounter all things da Vinci from an unprecedented perspective.
“Our first show we wanted to do was on Leonardo da Vinci, obviously, because he’s considered the true genius,” said CEO and co-creator Robert Frey. “I think if you look at his body of work … he only did 17 paintings, but was the first to person to come up with dissecting for art. He was the first inventor of a prequel to flight, parachutes, scuba diving stuff.”
Photo by: 501 Studios
Da Vinci has been the subject of exhibitions on the Strip before, mostly focused on designs from his manuscripts and three-dimensional realizations of inventions from his imagination. Frey and Perception Las Vegas co-creator Ned Collett take a different tack with their 17,000 square feet of space. They want to transport visitors into da Vinci’s mind. One experience is dedicated to the most famous of da Vinci’s surviving paintings, the Mona Lisa. Multiple digital reproductions are installed in one gallery, with directional speakers above each one that insulate the listener from intrusive outside sound. The enigmatic smile is constant, but the images themselves morph, move and speak according to the digital specifications of Dutch multidisciplinary creative agency Twofiftyk.
Another gallery serves as the embodiment of da Vinci’s imagination, where immersion into his works and processes is enabled by 360-degree projection. Da Vinci as scientist, as architect and as philosopher are explored via graphics that serve as shared synapses. Designs from his notebooks, of anatomy and war machines, float across the walls. Sometimes the inventions seem to come to life and demonstrate their functionality.
Da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper gets its digital due as well. Frey is mum on what Perception Las Vegas will serve as the follow-up to Universal Man, but said the menu has been designated. Meanwhile, the artist most associated with the Renaissance will be the headlining resident at the only digital art gallery on the Strip for at least six months.
A gift shop provides keepsakes of the experience, while the Mona Lisa room contains the most potential Instagram supply. Phones ringing may detract from the experience upon entering the room intended to immerse visitors into the genius mind of da Vinci, however, so don’t hesitate to place them in silent mode.
Universal Man is inspiring; it’s entertaining; and it may provide an aesthetic escape from the summer monsoons of Las Vegas. It definitely puts a new spin on how to absorb the works of a master visionary, in a most state-of-the-art way.
2780 S. Las Vegas Blvd., perceptionlasvegas.com
Click here for your free subscription to the weekly digital edition of Las Vegas Magazine, your guide to everything to do, hear, see and experience in Southern Nevada. In addition to the latest edition emailed to every week, you’ll find plenty of great, money-saving offers from some of the most exciting attractions, restaurants, properties and more! And Las Vegas Magazine is full of informative content such as restaurants to visit, cocktails to sip and attractions to enjoy.
