William John Viola Jr (25 January 1951 - 12 July 2024)
Mr Viola is remembered for his contemplative video portraits, experimental soundscapes, and immersive new media installations that grapple with universal human experiences of life, death, and evolving consciousness.
Over the course of his five-decade career, Mr Viola helped cement video as a contemporary artistic means of expression by exploring the possibilities of image and sound technology through single-channel displays, special effects, and closed-circuit sculptural installations.
He often alluded to this experience in his practice, drawing from this memory and spiritual traditions like Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and Christian mysticism for works like his five-part video series The Reflecting Pool (1977–79), which challenges viewers’ understanding of time and consciousness by focusing on moments of transition, such as day to night or movement to stillness.
Over the course of his life, Viola was the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees and was the focus of major solo museum exhibitions, including the two-year show Bill Viola,' A 25-Years Survey, which originated at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1997 and traveled to six museums in the United States and Europe. He also represented the US at the 46th Venice Biennale in 1995, where he presented a collection of five installations titled Buried Secrets that included the video work "The Greeting" (1995) — a project inspired by the early 16th-century Italian Mannerist painter Jacopo da Pontormo’s “The Visitation” (1528).
Rest in Power !
"The Deluge" (Going Forth by Day) (video still; 2002), Bill Viola. Courtesy Bill Viola Studio
