Bill Viola
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William John Viola Jr. ( , ; January 25, 1951 – July 12, 2024) was an American
video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...
ist whose artistic expression depended upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, death, and aspects of consciousness.


Early life and education

William John Viola Jr. was born on January 25, 1951, in
Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...
, New York, and grew up in
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
and Westbury. He attended P.S. 20, in Flushing, where he was captain of the TV Squad. On vacation in the mountains with his family, he nearly drowned in a lake, an experience he described as "… the most beautiful world I've ever seen in my life" and "without fear," and "peaceful." In 1973, Viola graduated from
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
with a Bachelor in Fine Arts in experimental studies. Viola described the school as traditional and considered himself to be "one of the worst painters in the class." He studied in Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts, including the Synapse experimental program, which evolved into CitrusTV.


Career

From 1973 to 1980, Viola studied and performed with composer
David Tudor David Eugene Tudor (January 20, 1926 – August 13, 1996) was an American pianist and composer of experimental music. Life and career Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefa ...
in the new music group "Rainforest" (later named "Composers Inside Electronics"). From 1974 to 1976, Viola worked as technical director at , a pioneering video studio led by Maria Gloria Conti Bicocchi, in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, Italy where he encountered video artists
Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a South Korean artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super highway" ...
,
Bruce Nauman Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941) is an American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives near Galisteo, New Mexico. Life and work ...
, and
Vito Acconci Vito Acconci (, ; January 24, 1940 – April 27, 2017) was an American performance art, performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His performan ...
, before he became artist-in-residence at
WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as Thirteen (stylized as THIRTEEN), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the Educ ...
Thirteen Television Laboratory in New York until 1983. In 1976 and 1977, he travelled to the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
,
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
, and
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
to record traditional performing arts. Viola was invited to show work at
La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...
(Melbourne, Australia) in 1977, by cultural arts director Kira Perov. Viola and Perov later married, beginning an important lifelong collaboration in working and traveling together. In 1980, they lived in Japan for a year and a half on a Japan/U.S. cultural exchange fellowship where they studied Buddhism with
Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
Master Daien Tanaka. During this time, Viola was also an artist-in-residence at
Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (imaging and sensing), ...
's
Atsugi is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 223,960 and a population density of 2400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . While the name "Atsugi" is often associated with the United ...
Laboratories. In 1983, he became an instructor in Advanced Video at the
California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...
, in Valencia, California. Viola received a
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
for fine arts in 1985. Since the early Seventies he had exhibited his works regularly in group and solo exhibitions at Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, at The Kitchen, and the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, where Barbara London directed the exhibition series "Projects", where works by Viola were shown 17 times and featured in two solo exhibitions until 1991. He represented the United States at the 46th
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
in 1995 for which he produced a series of works called ''Buried Secrets'', including one of his best known works ''The Greeting'', a contemporary interpretation of
Pontormo Jacopo Carucci or Carrucci (; May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as Jacopo (da) Pontormo or simply Pontormo (), was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound stylisti ...
's ''The Visitation''. In 1997, the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
organized and toured internationally a major 25-year retrospective of Viola's work. Viola was the 1998, Getty Scholar-in-residence at the
Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".
, Los Angeles. Later, in 2000, he was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
. In 2002, he completed ''Going Forth By Day'', a digital "fresco" cycle in
high-definition video High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher resolution and quality than standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image with considerably more than 480 vertical scan lines ( ...
, commissioned by the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin and the Guggenheim Museum, New York. In 2003,''The Passions'' was exhibited in Los Angeles, London, Madrid, and Canberra. This was a major collection of Viola's emotionally charged, slow-motion works inspired by traditions within
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
devotional painting. The first biography of Viola, entitled ''Viola on Vídeo'', was written by Federico Utrera (King Juan Carlos University) and published in Spain in 2011.


Bill Viola studio

Bill Viola studio is run by his wife, Kira Perov, who is the executive director. She worked with Viola from 1978 managing and assisting him with his videotapes and installations. She documents their work in progress on location. All publications from the studio are edited by Perov.


Death

Viola's wife and longtime creative collaborator was Kira Perov. He had two sons. Viola died from complications of
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
at home in
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
, on July 12, 2024, at the age of 73.


Artwork


Style

Viola's art deals largely with the central themes of human consciousness and experience – birth, death, love, emotion, and a kind of humanist spirituality. Throughout his career he drew meaning and inspiration from his deep interest in mystical traditions, especially
Zen Buddhism Zen (; from Chinese: '' Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka ph ...
,
Christian mysticism Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...
, and Islamic Sufism, often evident in the transcendental quality of some of his works. Equally, the subject matter and manner of western
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
and
renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
devotional art informed his aesthetic. He often explored
dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another * P ...
, or the idea that comprehension of a subject is impossible unless its opposite is known. For example, a lot of his work has themes such as life and death, light and dark, fire and water, stressed and calm, or loud and quiet. His work can be divided into three types, conceptual, visual, and a unique combination of the two. Gardner feels that Viola's visual work, such as "The Veiling", and his combination of both the conceptual and visual, such as "The Crossing," are impressive and memorable. Viola's work often exhibits a painterly quality, with his use of ultra-
slow motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slow-mo or slo-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use ...
video encouraging the viewer to sink into the image and connect deeply to the meanings contained within it. This quality makes his work perhaps unusually accessible within a contemporary art context. As a consequence, his work often receives mixed reviews from critics, some of whom have noted a tendency toward grandiosity and obviousness in some of his work. Viola's interest in capturing the essence of
emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
through recording of its extreme display began at least as early as his 1976 work, ''The Space Between the Teeth'', a video of himself screaming, and continued with such works as the 45-second ''Silent Mountain'' (2001), which shows two actors in states of anguish, which Viola described as “probably the loudest scream I’ve recorded.” If Viola's depictions of emotional states with no objective correlative — emotional states for which the viewer has no external object or event to understand them by—are one feature of many of his works, another, which has come to the forefront, is his reference to
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
and classical depictions of emotion. His subdued ''Catherine's Room'' 2001, has many scene by scene parallels with Andrea di Bartolo's 1393 '' St. Catherine of Siena Praying''. Viola's work has received critical accolades. Critic
Marjorie Perloff Marjorie Perloff (born Gabriele Mintz; September 28, 1931 – March 24, 2024) was an Austrian-born American poetry scholar and critic, known for her study of avant-garde poetry. Perloff was a professor at Catholic University, the University of ...
singles him out for praise. Writing at length about the necessity of poetic works responding to and taking advantage of contemporary computer technologies, Perloff sees Viola as an example of how new technology—in his case, the video camera—can create entirely new
aesthetic Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...
criteria and possibilities that did not exist in previous incarnations of the genre — in this case, theater.


Video art projects

While many video artists have been quick to adopt new technologies to their medium, Viola relied little on
digital editing In mass communication, digital media is any communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronic d ...
. Perhaps the most technically challenging part of his work, and that which has benefited most from the advances since his earliest pieces, is his use of extreme
slow motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slow-mo or slo-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use ...
. His early works include ''The Reflecting Pool'' (1977–79), inspired by a lake drowning he experienced underwater before being saved by his uncle while on a family vacation that left a mark on his life and work.


''Reverse Television''

''Reverse Television'' (1983) is a 15-minute montage of people watching video cameras as though they were televisions.


''The Quintet Series''

''The Quintet Series'' (2000-2001) is a set of four separate videos that shows the unfolding expressions of five actors in slow motion so that details of their changing expressions can be detected. The work references European
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...
such as
Hieronymous Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ;  – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...
and
Dieric Bouts Dieric Bouts (born – 6 May 1475) was an Early Netherlandish painter. Bouts may have studied under Rogier van der Weyden, and his work was influenced by van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. He worked in Leuven from 1457 (or possibly earlier) until ...


Collaboration with Nine Inch Nails

In 2000, Viola collaborated with the
industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Chrom ...
band
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...
and its lead singer
Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...
to create a video suite for the band's tour. The
triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...
mainly is focused on water imagery and was supposed to be integral with the songs that were played.


''An Ocean Without a Shore''

In 2007, Viola was invited back to the 52nd
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
to present an installation called ''An Ocean Without a Shore'', which was named after a quote from Ibn ʿArabī. The work consists of people standing in the foreground with nothing but black behind them. Each of them seem to produce gallons of water from themselves as if they were waterfalls. The water comes gushing out of their bodies as if they are being reborn. This main piece seems to creates the effect of appearing as a nearly transparent wall of glass. Viola described the piece in an interview as being "about the fragility of life, like the borderline between life and death is actually not a hard wall; it’s not to be opened with a lock and key, it's actually very fragile, very tenuous."


''Observance''

''Observance'' (2002), is a work which may be taken partly as a response to the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. The installation involves about four or five individuals in a small frame. Although cramped in this small space, they seem to not want to move out of it. One of the youngest individuals in the group comes forward to the front center of the crowd looking at something with an air of solace. In this action, the actions of the other individuals makes more sense. There is something foreboding and tragic in front of them.


''The Tristan Project''

In 2004, Viola embarked on ''The Tristan Project''. At the invitation of opera director
Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he teaches ...
, he created video sequences to be shown as a backdrop to the action on stage during the performance of
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's opera
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
. Using his extreme slow motion, Viola's pieces used actors to portray the metaphorical story behind Wagner's story, seeing for example the first act as an extended ritual of purification in which the characters disrobe and wash themselves before finally plunging headlong into water together (in Wagner's story, the two characters maintain the facade of being indifferent to each other (necessary because Isolde is betrothed to Tristan's uncle) before, mistakenly believing they are going to die anyway, and reveal their true feelings). The piece was first performed in Los Angeles at Disney Hall on 3 separate evenings in 2004, one act at a time, then given complete performances at the
Bastille Opera The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the List of French monarchs, kings of Fran ...
in Paris in April and in November 2005. The video pieces were later shown in London without Wagner's music in June to September 2006, at the Haunch of Venison Gallery and St. Olave's School, London. The Tristan project returned, both in music and video, to the Disney Hall in Los Angeles in April 2007, with further performances at New York City's
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
in May 2007 and at the Gergiev Festival in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, The Netherlands, in September 2007.


''The Night Journey''

In 2005, he began working with Tracy Fullerton and the Game Innovation Lab at
USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...
on the
art game An art game (or arthouse game) is a work of Interactive art, interactive new media art, new media digital art, digital software art as well as a member of the "art game" subgenre of the serious game, serious video game. The term "art game" was ...
, ''The Night Journey'', a project based on the universal story of an individual's mystic journey toward enlightenment. The game has presented at a number of exhibits worldwide as a work in progress. It was awarded Sublime Experience at IndieCade 2008.


''Bodies of Light''

In October 2009, Viola's solo exhibition entitled "Bodies of Light" appeared at the James Cohan Gallery in New York. Featured in the exhibition was Pneuma (1994), a projection of alternating images evoking the concept of fleeting memories. Also on view were several pieces from the Viola's ongoing "Transfiguration" series, which he evolved from his 2007 installation Ocean Without a Shore.


Other projects

In 2004, Viola began work on a new production of
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's opera ''
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
'', a collaboration with director
Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he teaches ...
, conductor
Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...
, and executive producer Kira Perov. The opera premiered at the
Opéra National de Paris The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
in 2005 and Viola's video work was subsequently shown as ''LOVE/DEATH The Tristan Project'' at the Haunch of Venison Gallery and St Olave's School, London, in 2006 and at the
Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 23, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Av ...
, Los Angeles in 2007. During 2007, the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Sevilla, organized an exhibition at the
Palace of Charles V The Palace of Charles V is a Renaissance building in Granada, southern Spain, inside the Alhambra, a former Nasrid palace complex on top of the Sabika hill. Construction began in 1527 but dragged on and was left unfinished after 1637. The palace ...
in la
Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...
-
Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
- in which Viola's work dialogues with the Fine Arts Collection of the museum.


Viola's Three Structures

Viola felt as if there are three different structures to describe patterns of data structures. There is the branching structure, matrix structure, and schizo structure. "The most common structure is called branching. In this structure, the viewer proceeds from the top to bottom in time."Viola, Bill. "Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space". In: Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Nick Montfort (eds.).''The New Media Reader.'' MIT Press, 2003. The branching structure of presenting data is the typical narrative and linear structure. The viewer proceeds from a set point A to point B by taking an exact path, the same path any other reader would take. An example of this is Google because users go into this website with a certain mindset of what they want to search for, and they get a certain result as they branch off and end at another website. The second structure is the Matrix structure. This structure describes media when it follows nonlinear progression through information. The viewer could enter at any point, move in any direction, at any speed, pop in and out at any place. Like the branching structure, this also has its set perimeters. However, the exact path that is followed is up to the user. The user has the option of participating in decision-making that affect the viewing experience of the media. An example of this is Public Secrets, a website that reveals secrets of the justice and the incarceration system within the U.S. for women. There is a set boundary of what users can and cannot do while presenting them with different themes and subjects users are able to view. Different users will find themselves taking different paths, using flash cues to guide themselves through the website. This vast selection of paths presents many users with a unique viewing experience (in relation to that of the previous persons). As well, they have the choice to read the excerpts from these women or hear it out loud. This connects to Borges' "The Garden of Forking Paths" where the participant has a variety of choices on how they see a story unfold before them. Each time, they can create a different path. The last structure is called the schizo, or the spaghetti model. This form of data structure pertains to pure or mostly
randomness In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of definite pattern or predictability in information. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. ...
. "Everything is irrelevant and significant at the same time. Viewers may become lost in this structure and never find their way out."


Awards

* 1984 Polaroid Video Art Award for outstanding achievement, US * 1985
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
for Fine Arts, US * 1987 Maya Deren Award,
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
, US * 1989 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award, US * 1993 Skowhegan Medal (Video Installation), US * 1993 Medienkunstpreis, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, and
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
Kulturprogramm, Germany * 2000 Elected member of
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
* 2003 Cultural Leadership Award, American Federal of Arts, US * 2006 NORD/LB Art Prize, Bremen, Germany * 2006 Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, government of France * 2009 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts,
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
, Cambridge, MA * 2009 Catalonia International Prize, Barcelona, Spain * 2010 Honorary Doctorate from the
University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...
, Belgium * 2011
Praemium Imperiale Prince Takamatsu The Praemium Imperiale () is an international art prize inaugurated in 1988 and awarded since 1989 by the Imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, mu ...
, Japan * 2013 International Artist Award, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO * 2017 Elected as an Honorary Royal Academician by the
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
, UK


Solo exhibitions

* 1973 and 1975: ''New Video Works,'' and ''Rain – Three Interlocking Systems,'' Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, US * 1974 und 1977: The Kitchen, New York, US * 1979: ''Projects: Bill Viola,''
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York, US (''He Weeps for You.'') * 1980: ''Chott el-Djerid,'' Long Beach Museum of Art, US * 1981: ''Works from 1976 to 1981,''
Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Fr ...
, Ca * 1982:
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, New York, US * 1983: Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, F * 1985: Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Se * 1985: ''The Temporary Contemporary,''
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...
, US * 1987: ''Bill Viola: Installations,'' Museum of Modern Art, New York, US * 1988: ''Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House: Video Installations and Videotapes,''
Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the north bank of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having opened in May 1976, th ...
, London, UK * 1988: ''Bill Viola: Survey of a Decade,'' Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, US * 1989: soloshow at the 3rd Fukui International Video Biennale, Fukui Fine Arts Museum, Fukui, Jp * 1990: ''The Sleep of Reason,'' Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Jouy-en-Josas, F * 1991: ''Video Projects,'' Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, G * 1992–1994: ''Slowly Turning Narrative,'' exhibition touring US and Canada: ** 1992: Institute of Contemporary Art Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania ** 1992:
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the supp ...
, Richmond ** 1993:
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (, MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it ...
** 1993:
Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art Indianapolis Contemporary, formerly known as the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art or iMOCA, was a museum of contemporary art in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. In 2020, the gallery's board voted to begin closing down operations, a result of ...
, San Diego ** 1994: Center for the Fine Arts, Miami ** 1994: Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York * 1992–1994: ''Bill Viola: Unseen Images / Nie gesehene Bilder / Images jamais vues'', Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, touring exhibition: ** 1993: Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Se ** 1993:
Museo Reina Sofía Museo may refer to: * ''Museum'' (2018 film), Mexican drama heist film * Museo station, station on line 1 of the Naples Metro {{disambiguation ...
, Madrid, Es ** 1993: Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Sw ** 1993:
Whitechapel Art Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...
, London, UK ** 1994:
Tel Aviv Museum of Art The Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art both from Israel and around the world. History The Tel Aviv ...
, Isr * 1995: ''Bill Viola: Buried Secrets'', pavillon of the USA, 46.
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
, It * 1994: ''Stations,'' American Center, Paris, F ** 1995:
Van Abbemuseum The Van Abbemuseum () in Eindhoven is one of the first public museums for contemporary art to be established in Europe. The museum’s collection includes key works and archives by Joseph Beuys, Marc Chagall, René Daniëls, Marlene Dumas, Shee ...
, Eindhoven, Nl ** 1996:
Lannan Foundation The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...
, Los Angeles, US ** 1996: Württembergischer Kunstverein,
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, G * 1997–2000: ''Bill Viola,'' touring retrospective of 25 years organised by the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, New York, US ** 1997:
Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...
, US ** 1998: Whitney, New York, US ** 1998:
Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
, Amsterdam, Nl ** 1999: Museum für Moderne Kunst, Schirn Kunsthalle, Dominikanerkloster, Römer und
Deutsche Börse Deutsche Börse AG (), or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a German multinational corporation that offers a marketplace for organizing the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider, giving companies and inv ...
,
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, G ** 1999:
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...
, US ** 1999–2000:
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
, US * 2002: ''Bill Viola: Going Forth by Day,'' Guggenheim Museum, New York, US ** Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, G * 2003/04: ''Bill Viola. The Passions'',
Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...
, Los Angeles, US **
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
, London, UK * 2014: ''Martyrs (Earth, Air Fire, Water)'', installation in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, UK ** 2016: complemented by ''Mary'' * 2017: ''Bill Viola. Rinascimento elettronico,'' Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, It * 2017: ''Bill Viola – Installationen'',
Deichtorhallen The Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany, is one of Europe's largest art centers for contemporary art and photography. The two historical buildings dating from 1911 to 1913 are notable examples of industrial architecture from the transitional period ...
, Hamburg, G * 2019: ''Bill Viola / Michelangelo. Life Death Rebirth'',
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
, London, UK * 2019: ''I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like. The Art of Bill Viola,'' Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, US * 2022: ''Bill Viola'',
Museum der Moderne Salzburg The Museum der Moderne Salzburg has two buildings at two different locations in Salzburg, Austria. The Rupertinum in the old town for new artistic concepts opened in 1983 and the Museum on the Mönchsberg for modern art in a contemporary setting op ...
, Mönchsberg, At * 2022: ''Bill Viola: Inner Journey,'' Amos Rex, Helsinki, Fi * 2023/24: ''Bill Viola. Sculptor of Time'', La Boverie, Liège, Be


Books

* Bill Viola and Robert Violette (1995). ''Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House: Writings 1973–1994''. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, . * Bill Viola (2002). ''Going Forth by Day''. Catalog, New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, .


Further reading

* Marilyn Zeitlin (ed.): ''Bill Viola: Survey of a Decade.'' Catalog, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston 1988, ISBN 0-936080-18-3. * Marie Luise Syring: ''Bill Viola: Unseen Images/Nie gesehene Bilder/Images jamais vues''. Catalog, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. Meyer, Düsseldorf 1992, ISBN 3-9803398-1-5 (English/German/French). * David A. Ross,
Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he teaches ...
(eds.): ''Bill Viola.'' Catalog of the retrospective with contributions by Lewis Hyde, Kira Perov, David A. Ross and Bill Viola.
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, New York, and Cantz, Ostfildern 1999, ISBN 3-89322-972-8. * Rolf Lauter (ed.): ''Bill Viola: Europäische Einsichten, European Insights, Werkbetrachtungen, Reflections on the Work of Bill Viola.'' Additional book for the German station of the retrospective in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
with contributions by Jean-Christophe Ammann, Verena Auffermann, Wulf Herzogenrath, Rolf Lauter, Hans Ulrich Reck u. a. Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, and Prestel, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-7913-2067-X (German/English). * John Walsh ed. (2003). ''Bill Viola: The Passions''. Catalog, with Essays by Peter Sellars and John Walsh, a conversation between
Hans Belting Hans Belting (7 July 1935 – 10 January 2023) was a German art historian and media theorist with a focus on image science, and this with regard to contemporary art and to the Italian art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Biography Be ...
and Viola, sources and notes on the works by Viola, visual documentation by Kira Perov. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum in association with the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
, London, 978-0-89236-713-9 * Chris Townsend (ed.): ''The Art of Bill Viola.'' Contributions by Cynthia Freeland, Rhys Davies, David Kasper, David Morgan, Otto Neumaier a. o. Thames & Hudson, London 2004, ISBN 978-0-500-28472-8. * Jérôme Neutres, Anne-Marie Duguet (2014). ''Bill Viola.'' Catalog,
Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...
, Galeries nationales, Paris, (French/English). * Dirk Luckow, Kira Perov (eds.): ''Bill Viola: Installations.'' Catalog,
Deichtorhallen The Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany, is one of Europe's largest art centers for contemporary art and photography. The two historical buildings dating from 1911 to 1913 are notable examples of industrial architecture from the transitional period ...
, Hamburg. Snoeck, Cologne 2017, ISBN 978-3-86442-209-6 (German/English). * Kira Perov (Hrsg.): ''Bill Viola. Love/Death. The Tristan Project.'' Mercatorfonds, Antwerp, Yale University Press, New Haven 2024, ISBN 978-0-300-27017-4.


Documentaries

* Mark Kidel: ''Bill Viola: The Eye of the Heart,'' 1h,
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, UK, 2003. * Gerald Fox: ''Bill Viola: The Road to St Paul's,'' 1.85:1, 101 min, Foxy Films, UK/F/It/USA, 2005–2017..


See also

* List of video artists


References


Further reading

* Hanhardt, John G, Kira Perov, and Bill Viola. ''Bill Viola''. 2015. Print. . * Hanhardt, John G, Thomas A. Carlson, and Kira Perov. ''I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like''. Philadelphia: The Barnes Foundation, 2019. Print. . * Rogers, Holly
"Acoustic Architecture: Music and Space in the Video Installations of Bill Viola"
. ''Twentieth Century Music'', (2005) 2(2), pp. 197–219. . * Ross, David A, Peter Sellars, and Lewis Hyde. ''Bill Viola''. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1997. Print. . * Townsend, Chris, and Bill Viola. ''The Art of Bill Viola''. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004. Print. .


External links

* *
Bill Viola Interview: Cameras Are Keepers of the Souls
Video by Louisiana Channel {{DEFAULTSORT:Viola, Bill 1951 births 2024 deaths American installation artists American people of Italian descent American video artists Artists from Queens, New York Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in California Honorary members of the Royal Academy MacArthur Fellows People from Westbury, New York