Bill Viola

Biography

A pioneer in the medium of video art, Bill Viola's work explores the spiritual and perceptual side of human experience. Since 1970 he has created videotapes, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances and pieces for television. Works include Hatsu Yume (First Dream), The Passing, and installations Room for St. John of the Cross, The Messenger and The Quintet of the Astonished, recently shown at the National Gallery, London in "Encounters, New Art from Old". A 25-year survey exhibition of his work organized by The Whitney Museum of American Art recently traveled to 6 institutions in the USA and Europe. MacArthur Fellow.

Directed

1. Return (1975) — Director
2. The Reflecting Pool (1979) — Director
3. The Passing (1992) — Director
4. Ancient of Days (1982) — Director
5. Anthem (1983) — Director
6. Chott el-Djerid (A Portrait in Light and Heat) (1979) — Director
7. I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like (1986) — Director
8. Hatsu Yume (First Dream) (1981) — Director
9. Migration (for Jack Nelson) (1976) — Director
10. Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House (1983) — Director
11. Sweet Light (1977) — Director
12. Fire Woman (2005) — Director
13. A Phrase from Chris (2011) — Director
14. The Space Between the Teeth (1976) — Director
15. Playing Soul Music to My Freckles So They Won't Get Lonely (1975) — Director
16. A Non-Dairy Creamer (1975) — Director
17. Déserts (1994) — Director
18. The Path (2002) — Director
19. Angel's Gate (1989) — Director
20. Ocean Without a Shore (2007) — Director
21. The Voyage (2002) — Director
22. Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall) (2005) — Director
23. Emergence (2003) — Director
24. Reverse Television - Portraits of Viewers (1984) — Director
25. The Crossing — Director
26. Information (1973) — Director
27. The Stopping Mind (1990) — Director
28. Moonblood (1979) — Director
29. Vegetable Memory (1980) — Director
30. Silent Life (1986) — Director
31. Slowly Turning Narrative (1992) — Director
32. Memories Of Ancestral Power (1977) — Director
33. The Veiling (1995) — Director
34. The Nantes Triptych (1992) — Director
35. The Greeting (1995) — Director
36. Truth Through Mass Individuation (1976) — Director
37. Songs of Innocence (1976) — Director
38. Junkyard Levitation (1976) — Director
39. Four Songs (1976) — Director
40. Sodium Vapor (1986) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Return (1975)
2. What Is Cinema? (2013) — Self
3. The Reflecting Pool (1979) — Performer
4. I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like (1986) — Himself
5. Migration (for Jack Nelson) (1976)
6. Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House (1983)
7. Bill Viola: The Eye of the Heart (2003) — Self
8. Bill Viola: The Road to St. Paul's (2017) — Self
9. The Voyage (2002) — Gatekeeper
10. Going Forth By Day (2002) — (segment "The Voyage")
11. Processing the Signal — Himself
12. Trovoada (1995) — Self (voice)
13. The Deluge