Bill Viola's 'Mary', Today at St. Paul's Cathedral

THE WHISPERER

Mary by Bill Viola

UNITED KINGDOM---Prepare to be entranced again by Bill Viola: St Paul's large-scale installation 'Mary' sees the video artist return to London's greatest Cathedral. The best-known video-artist in the world, his films grapple dauntlessly with the Big Questions: birth, death, God, consciousness, memory, martyrdom. Part of the power of his work is that it reflects the formal concerns of religious painting, such as the triptych and the altarpiece. In 2014, Viola brought Martyrs to St. Paul's Cathedral (no less), where it remains in the south quire to this day. This autumn, a second permanent large-scale installation will come to the cathedral, it has been announced. Mary will show the Virgin Mother carrying Christ, and will be installed in the north quire. St Pauls Cathedral, 08 Sep 2016 – 30 Sep 2017, Permanent installation, Mon-Fri [link]

Bill Viola's "A Phrase from "Illumination" Available at S[EDITION]

S [ EDITION]

"A Phrase from Illumination" (2011) by video artist Bill Viola

The image sequence for "A Phrase from Illumination is a meditation on water and light, two elements that Bill Viola has used extensively in his work. On September 8, Bill Viola inaugurates Mary, the second of two moving-image artworks installed at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Mary is presented in the North Quire Aisle alongside Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) in the South Quire Aisle. The works are the first of their kind to be permanently installed in a UK cathedral. [Purchase]

Bill Viola to Unveil New Video Installation at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral

ARTNET NEWS
By Carol Civre

A still from Mary, 2016, by Bill Viola; Executive Producer, Kira Perov. Published in The Guardian

UNITED KINGDOM---Internationally acclaimed artist Bill Viola will unveil his second permanent large-scale video installation at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. The video titled "Mary" will be inaugurated in the North Quire Aisle on September 8, 2016 to coincide with the Feast of Mary. The installation accompanies Viola’s previous artwork commissioned by the cathedral titled "Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)," which was unveiled in the South Quire Aisle in 2014. Together, Viola’s pieces are the first moving-image installation to be housed in the cathedral on a long-term basis. Both Mary and Martyrs are a collaboration between Viola and his wife, Kira Perov. [link]

Day #30 - Art for Lent: Bill Viola's "Martyrs" #Lent2016

ART + RELIGION
By Aaron Rosen

"Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), 2014 by Bill Viola | USA. Colour high-defination video polyptych on four vertical plasma displays, (55x133 x 4 in.) duration: 7 mins 15 secs. Installation view, St. Paul's Cathedral, London

Viola was commissioned by St Paul's after church officials saw this exhibition The Passions (2003) at the National Gallery in London. The St Paul's commission was made possible by a practical but also symbolic collaboration between the cathedral nd Tate Modern, located directly across Millennium Bridge. The framing of the polyptych emphasizes the conscious homage that this cutting-edge video art pays to traditional altarpieces, and Viola hopes his works for St Paul's become 'practical objects of traditional contemplation and devotion'. [page 243]

Bill Viola’s New Video Project Is a Rebirth of Sorts

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Ken Johnson

Bill Viola goes for big, cosmic themes, which he funnels into technically impressive video works of compelling, quasi-religious sincerity. The main event of this exhibition is an awesome video called “Inverted Birth.” The 15-foot-tall projection shows in slow motion and in reverse a man standing on a bare stage as he is subjected to a tremendous deluge of liquid. While blood and milk are essential fluids of the birth and life of the body, the sequence also suggests spiritual transformation out of darkness and into the clear light. [link]

Bill Viola's "Inverted Birth" now open at James Cohan Gallery in NYC

ART AGENDA

Bill Viola: Inverted Birth. Courtesy of the Village Voice

NEW YORK---James Cohan is pleased to present Inverted Birth, the gallery's seventh solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed video artist Bill Viola, on view from December 10 through January 30. Featured are six major works created between 2012 and 2014: Ancestors (2012), Inverted Birth (2014), and four pieces from the Martyrs series—Earth Martyr, Air Martyr, Fire Martyr, and Water Martyr (all 2014). Viola has remarked, "Birth is not a beginning, death is not an end." James Cohan Gallery, 533 West 26th St, New York, NY; (212) 714 9500; jamescohan.com [link]

Yorkshire Sculpture Park presents an exhibition by video artist, Bill Viola

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Tristan's Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain under a Waterfall)

UNITED KINGDOM---This month, Yorkshire Sculpture Park presents an exhibition by pioneering video and installation artist, Bill Viola. The solo exhibition at the Underground Gallery and Chapel will feature installations from the last 20 years of the artist's career, and premiere a new work The Trial. The exhibition opens on October 10, 2015. In addition, digital art dealer Sedition is selling Bill Viola digital editions including A Phrase From “Chris” and A Phrase From “Illumination” directly from the museum’s gift shop.

Bill Viola's "A Phrase from 'Chris'" now available on Sedition

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

"A Phrase from "Chris" (2011) by Bill Viola

Now available on Sedition is Bill Viola's "A Phrase from 'Chris," a digital video that is part of his  Transfigurations series. “Transfiguration refers to a rare process whereby both the substance and essence of an entity is reconfigured," said Viola. "In physical terms, a transfiguration is a change in form, a remodeling of appearance. The word derives from the ancient Greek ‘metemorphothe’ or 'metamorphosis,’ suggesting a complete reformation." For over 40 years Bill Viola has created architectural video installations, video films, sound environments, electronic music performances, flat panel video pieces, and works for television broadcast, as well as music concerts, opera and sacred spaces. [Buy Now]

Bill Viola's compelling artwork major attraction at Auckland Castle

DARLING AND STOCKTONTIMES

Modern martyr images at Auckland Castle courtesy of Bill Viola and Blain Southern. Picture: Kira Perov.

UNITED KINGDOM---American artist Bill Viola’s installation on the theme of martyrdom in the chapel at Auckland Castle heralds a new chapter for the former palace of the Bishops of Durham where the UK’s first museum in faith history is scheduled to open in 2018. The four flat screen panels – Earth Martyr, Air Martyr, Fire Martyr and Water Martyr – are derived from his large-scale video work, Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) first shown at St Paul’s Cathedral in London last year. [link]

Religious following: Bill Viola's 'Martyrs' bear witness at UK's Auckland Castle

WALLPAPER.COM
By Jessica Klingelfuss

Installation view of Bill Viola's new digital altarpiece at Auckland Castle in County Durham, a bespoke reworking of his 2014 video 'Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)'. Courtesy of Auckland Castle Trust. Photography: Mark Pinder

UNITED KINGDOM---Contemporary art and religion almost always intuitively find themselves at odds. Under the mystical guidance of Bill Viola, however, the two worlds seem to collide with impossibly gripping effect. In his latest show, the American video artist returns to the north east of England, where visitors to Auckland Castle in County Durham can find faith (or denounce it) through Viola's haunting digital altarpiece. [link]

Bill Viola video installation heralds new national exhibition space for faith art

THE GUARDIAN
By Mark Brown

Bill Viola’s video installation is shown front of a the carved 19th-century oak reredos in Auckland Caste, County Durham. Photograph: Mark Pinder

UNITED KINGDOM---Watched by saints in the largest private chapel in Europe in front of a fabulously carved 19th-century oak reredos of martyrs, four modern human figures go through their own tortures. They are all part of a video installation by Bill Viola in St Peter’s Chapel, Auckland Castle, the former palace of the Prince Bishops of Durham. It is a significant commission. The Viola, a bespoke edition of a large video work of Martyrs that was installed last year in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, will be the first of further contemporary art commissions for the castle. [link]

Bill Viola’s spiritual handiwork on display until March 29 at Australian arts festival

THE CONVERSATION
By Heather L. Robinson

A major exhibition of American video artist Bill Viola’s work is on display at the Adelaide Festival. Bill Viola, The Encounter, 2012. Color High-Definition video on plasma display mounted on wall. Performers: Genevieve Anderson, Joan Chodorow. Photo: Kira Perov. Adelaide Festival

AUSTRALIA---American video artist Bill Viola has an extraordinary relationship with time, space and the elements. His moving images of archetypal figures are transfigured by their experiences of land, air, fire and water. As part of the 2015 Adelaide Festival of Arts a selection of Viola’s work is on display that confirms his status as a master of the video medium and demonstrates why he is considered one of today’s most significant contemporary artists. On display until March 29, Bill Viola: Selected Works is the broadest collection of the artist’s installations to be shown in Australia. [link]

Bill Viola's 'The Dreamers' Under the Surface

DELMARVA
By Ursula Ehrhardt

MARYLAND---"The Dreamers," a video and sound installation by Bill Viola, an internationally renowned artist and pioneer of video art, will be on view at the Academy Art Museum in Easton through March 1. The installation consists of seven videos that are shown simultaneously, each on its own plasma display panel, on three walls of a darkened gallery. They depict three men and three women of different ages, ethnicities and races, plus the young girl seen in the detail. All have their eyes shut, are fully clothed and submerged in water, whose flowing sound fills the space. One also hears what may be human heartbeats, breathing and other body sounds. [link]

Bill Viola Goes to Korea in 2015

THE KOREAN HERALD

“The Lovers” by Bill Viola. (Kukje Gallery)

KOREA---With the positive New Year remarks by the leaders of North and South Korea setting up the possibility of a thaw in inter-Korean relations, South Koreans this year will be able to see more exhibitions with North Korean elements than ever before. The Seoul Museum of Art is preparing a North Korea-themed exhibit to mark the 70th year of the division of Korea. Art lovers can also look forward to seeing some cutting-edge works of media artist Bill Viola from March to April. His intensive works show technical mastery, and are embedded with his philosophical ideas and thoughts. [link]

Bill Viola's video art has been his spiritual exercise of the past 40 years

FORBES
By Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle

Going Forth By Day (detail), “The Deluge” (Panel 3), 2002, video/sound
installation, a five-part projected image cycle, 36 minutes (Photo Kira Perov)

“Time makes my art possible,” insists Bill Viola. For the past four decades, Viola has kept a personal journal that he writes in every morning, which now comprises 40 volumes filled with his thoughts, projects and drawings. His mind is chaotic and jumps from subject to subject, but this reflects an extreme openness of spirit, influenced by wide-ranging references, whether mystical (from Saint Jean de la Croix to Jalal al-Din Rumi), philosophical (from the Greeks to the American Indian Seneca Chief), poetic (from Japanese Zen monks to William Blake) or artistic (from the Buddhist frescoes of Alchi to the Italian Renaissance painters). Believing that art is a spiritual exercise, Viola’s works are like a meditation on life, death, transcendence, rebirth, time and space. [link]

Bill Viola at the Adelaide Festival: the King of Video Art

THE SIDNEY MORNING HERALD
By Andrew Taylor

Operatic: Fire Woman (2005) originally made for a production of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. Photo: Kira Perov

AUSTRALIA---Bill Viola was six years old when he almost drowned. The renowned American video artist recalls his near-death experience with fondness, describing it as a moment of beauty rather than terror. Elements of this childhood memory can be seen in Viola's works that will be exhibited during the 2015 Adelaide Festival of Arts, which begins in February. The Messenger, originally commissioned for Durham Cathedral in 1996, features a young man rising repeatedly to the surface of a pool of water to gasp for breath before sinking again. Viola's work often appears to be drenched in piety. His videos may feature imagery inspired by Renaissance devotional art or bear religious titles. He frequently exhibits in churches. [link]

Jake Gyllenhaal: In Deep With Video Artist Bill Viola

W MAGAZINE
By Lynn Hirschberg

PUBLISHING---No playing it safe for the Hollywood darling. Jake Gyllenhaal is plunging into uncharted territory—starting with this collaboration with the video artist Bill Viola. Viola is also interested in extremes: His medium is video, and he creates scenarios that have biblical undercurrents, usually involving fire or water. Viola, who is an enthusiastic man, explained his process to Gyllenhaal: The actor would lie down in a tank of warm water—which resembled a rectangular bathtub made of clear Plexiglas—and hold his breath in darkness as the lights slowly came up. There was a death-to-life feel to the idea, but Viola rejected the notion of his art having a narrative. [link]

Voilá, Viola at Indianapolis Museum of Art

THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN
By Shannon Rostin

INDIANA---Video art might not be the first medium to come to mind when one goes to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. However, as one enters a dark room and approaches the screen, he or she will be met with the original and innovative video art of Bill Viola. The video depicts the artist as he is destroyed by fire and water, alongside a depiction of a group of men’s facial expressions meant to depict pain and suffering. The exhibit was recently brought to the IMA to showcase Viola’s works “The Crossing” and “The Quintet of the Silent.” The exhibit, “Bill Viola: Capturing Spectacle and Passion,” will be exhibited on the fourth floor of the IMA until Jan. 20, 2015. [link]

Indianapolis Museum of Art to Present Captivating Works by Video Pioneer Bill Viola

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS 

Bill Viola (American, b. 1951), The Crossing (detail), 1996

INDIANA---The Indianapolis Museum of Art announced an exhibition of works by the world-renowned video pioneer Bill Viola. "Bill Viola: Capturing Spectacle and Passion" will feature two works by the acclaimed video artist. On loan from the Dallas Museum of Art, "The Crossing" (1996) consists of a double-sided screen with two videos simultaneously projected—one featuring a man being engulfed in flames, the other a man consumed by water. The 12-minute spectacle confronts the eternal cycle of life, death and the hope of rebirth. Also on display is "The Quintet of the Silent" (2001), a work from the IMA’s contemporary collection. The exhibit opens Sept. 26 in the June M. McCormack Forefront Galleries.

Indianapolis Museum of Art: "Bill Viola: Capturing Spectacle and Passion Exhibition" (September 26, 2014-January 20, 2015); June M. McCormack Forefront Galleries; 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, Indiana; (317) 923-1331; imamuseum.org

Bill Viola’s Martyrs: Sleek, Glamorous, Empty

NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
By Simon Willis

A view of Bill Viola’s video installation Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) on display at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London

UNITED KINGDOM---Martyrs, a new work by the American video artist Bill Viola, is difficult to take as seriously as it takes itself. It is being shown as a permanent exhibit in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, just a few feet from the high altar, and is designed as a kind of altarpiece. The difference between Viola’s installation and these other memorials is that Martyrs is not about any particular people who died for any particular cause. As images of martyrdom they are rather limp and risk-free. The effect is that the videos—when compared with many other depictions of martyrdom both old and new—are one-dimensional. [link]