Bill Viola, Pioneer Video Artist on Human Consciousness, Dies at 73

Artist Bill Viola, renowned for his groundbreaking work with video since the 1970s, passed away on Friday at his Long Beach home after a prolonged battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. He was 73. According to his wife and long-time artistic collaborator, Kira Perov, Viola had been diagnosed in 2012 and entered hospice care in October 2020. His prolific international work had already slowed the previous year.

Viola’s art aimed at unraveling the complexities of human consciousness—exploring its essence, operations, and endurance through the lens of video technology. This focus remained central to his work for over four decades.

In 1985, Viola made a significant impact with his installation, “The Theater of Memory,” at the Whitney Biennial in New York. It was the first installation featuring a substantial video element alongside traditional forms of painting and sculpture. The installation included a large tree spanning the room and a video projection that presented a cloud of gray static from which fleeting images emerged—a girl walking, a hand holding a teacup, a car falling over an embankment. The piece was meant to evoke the fleeting and enigmatic nature of memory.

This seminal work found a home at the Newport Harbor Art Museum (now the Orange County Museum of Art) in 1988. A year earlier, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles acquired Viola’s “Room for St. John of the Cross,” a piece combining a large video projection and a small TV monitor placed within a monastic-like cell. This installation highlighted Viola’s interest in spiritual themes and marked a crucial point in his career, being part of the first major exhibition of video art at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Viola’s career reached a high point in 1989 when he received a MacArthur Fellowship, underscoring his role in bringing video art into the mainstream of American cultural life.

Born in Queens, N.Y., on Jan. 25, 1951, Viola belonged to the first generation exposed extensively to television. He chose Syracuse University for his art education, where the advent of personal video recording equipment opened new artistic avenues. Initially focused on painting, he found himself drawn to video art, significantly influenced by the experimental environment of Upstate New York.

Viola worked at the Experimental Television Center, where video equipment was being innovated. He also connected with avant-garde composer David Tudor, participating in musical productions that blended everyday objects to create soundscapes, a collaboration that continued until Tudor’s death in 1996. Additionally, sculptor Jack Nelson, a Syracuse University professor, profoundly impacted Viola’s work with his introspective spirituality.

Upon graduating from Syracuse with a BFA, Viola moved to Florence, Italy, immersing himself in Renaissance art. His travels across the Pacific region and experiences in Japan deepened his interest in Buddhist mindfulness, influencing his artistic development significantly.

One significant personal and professional partnership began in Melbourne, Australia, when Viola met Kira Perov. They married in 1980 and moved to Long Beach, where Viola continued to explore new imaging technologies as an artist-in-residence at Memorial Medical Center. This period marked the solidification of recurring themes in his work, notably the connections between mind and body.

Viola’s installations, like “Theater of Memory,” reimagined natural elements within digital environments. His work often drew on metaphors from nature to depict contemporary digital life. For instance, the installation showcased a fallen tree representing a disrupted natural landscape, surrounded by digital imagery projecting dynamic visual narratives.

Representing the U.S. at the 1995 Venice Biennale, Viola exhibited “The Greeting,” a hyper-slow-motion video inspired by Mannerist painter Jacopo da Pontormo. This project emphasized the transitional nature of video art, merging the contemplative examination of painting with the dynamic possibilities of video.

Viola’s retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1997 displayed his innovative approach by forgoing traditional labels and wall texts, encouraging viewers to engage directly with the art. He continued to push boundaries, creating works for non-traditional venues. One such project was “Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water),” installed in London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral in 2014, an unprecedented commission for church display.

“There are no answers to life or death,” Viola once explained. “I think mystery is the most important aspect of my work. That moment when we open a door and close it without knowing where we’re going.”

Viola is survived by his wife Kira, and his sons Andrei and Blake. A memorial service is being planned to honor his legacy.

Source: Los Angeles Times