Bill Viola

Bill Viola is a contemporary artist who uses video and electronic media to explore the phenomena of sense perception as a language of the body and avenue to self-knowledge. He has integrated many disciplines and philosophies to present a broad view of the relevance of contemporary art to the modern world, a view which has firm roots in the history of both Western and Eastern art. Primarily known for his work with video images, since 1973 he has created tapes, architectural installations, sound environments, electronic music performances and works for television.

He has exhibited at major museums worldwide, and has been instrumental in the establishment of video as an accepted form of contemporary art. A survey exhibition of his work at the Museum of Modern Art (1987) was the first time that museum has devoted several galleries to the work of a video artist. His tapes and installations are found in many prominent museum and private collections throughout the world.

In 1998 Viola was the subject of a major retrospective at the Whitney Museum, curated by David Ross and Peter Sellars. In 1994 he created a film for a live concert tour of Edgard Varese's "Deserts" by the Ensemble Modern and in 1996 represented the US at the 46th Venice Biennale (BURIED SECRETS 1995). THE MESSENGER (1996) was commissioned by the Chaplaincy to the Arts and Recreation for the 900 year old Durham Cathedral in Northern England. A book of his collected writings from 1973 to 1994 Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House (MIT Press, 1995) was jointly published in the US and UK.

Viola received a BFA from the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. While there he was an active participant in the Synapse Video Center. In 1973 he formed Composers INside Electronics Group; in 1975 he was associated with Art/Tapes/22 in Italy. He was Artist in Residence at WNET/13 (1976-1980) and at Sony Corporation. He has received many awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the NYS Council on the Arts, and received fellowships from the US/Japan Exchange, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation. https://www.billviola.com