Bill Viola

Bill Viola’s new exhibition at Blain|Southern presents small-screen works in an intimate context to reflect on the complex details of human relations and our attachment to the material world. Known for exploring the artistic potential of video since the seventies, here Viola employs a number of formats and techniques of filming and projection in works made within the last two decades.

In a triptych on adjoining flat screen panels, Poem B (The Guest House), 2006; we witness the residue of a life through the objects and structures that surround a solitary older woman. In Small Saints, 2008; six separate OLED screens depict six individuals appearing from the darkness, in footage that transitions between grainy black-and-white images from a surveillance camera, to the extreme clarity of high-definition digital video.

Viola makes direct classical references in his choice of materials and formats. Unspoken (Silver & Gold), 2001; is a projected diptych of a man and woman, which connects with historical use of precious metals in art, with the optical properties of these highly textured surfaces altering the appearance of images in dramatic ways. Dolorosa, 2000 is a diptych of small LCD screens that draws from the medieval uses of portable folding panel paintings.

Self Portrait, Submerged, 2013, depicts the artist lying on the bed of a stream. In this alternate physical realm he lies with eyes closed, breathing out slowly, appearing to be completely at peace. It rounds off this focused selection of work that encapsulates an important aspect of Bill Viola’s wider preoccupation with the dynamics between spiritual and physical realm.

Bill Viola (b.1951 New York, US) is internationally recognised as one of the leading artists of our time, an acknowledged pioneer in the medium of video art. For over 40 years he has been making work that explores a series of humanistic and spiritual issues. His works include room-size video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances and flat panel video pieces, as well as works for television broadcast, concerts, opera, and sacred spaces. In 2017 alone he was the subject of several major museum retrospectives including Palazzo Strozzi, Florence; The Diechtorhallen, Hamburg; and Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.