Bill Viola’s video work The Lovers (2005), will be shown at the “50 Years of Video Art,” on 26th Festival Les Instants Vidéo, La Friche de la belle de mai in Marseille, France (November 7 – 30, 2013). The last month’s European exhibition of Bill Viola’s videos in Blain Southern Gallery showed the whole Earth “Dreamers” in moving images. Viola explains how his latest exhibits touch upon a near-death experience as a child, and the importance of water in his work (8 minutes) (thespace.org)“Dreamers” (2013) consists of seven individual screens, which depict underwater portraits of people who appear to be sleeping. Presented in the gallery on the lower-ground floor, and accompanied by the gentle sounds of water, the viewer is led to feel as if they themselves are submerged with these figures.
“For over forty years, Viola’s practice has continuously transformed our understanding of video as an artform, expanding its technological scope and historical relevance. He draws from a range of influences, including Eastern and Western art and the spiritual traditions of Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism and Christian mysticism, to express fundamental truths underpinning human existence. Bill Viola’s profound visual language captures and expresses thoughts, feelings and memories that have a universal appeal, offering viewers a vehicle for the exploration and contemplation of their own circumstances and emotions.” (blain southern gallery)
Viola represented the U.S. at the 46th Venice Biennale in 1995, and his work has been the subject of large solo
survey exhibitions including: The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (2012-2013), The Whitney Museum of
American Art (travelled to 5 venues) (1997-2000); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2006); and Palazzo delle Esposizioni,
Rome (2008). He holds honorary doctorates from Syracuse University (1995), The School of the Art Institute
of Chicago (1997), and Royal College of Art, London (2004) among others, and was inducted into the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences (2000).
MV
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