Remembering Bill Viola, the video artist asking big questions

Bill Viola and his partner Kira Perov in 2016 at their studio in Signal Hill, California, with his work, Mary, 2016 – a colour, high-definition video triptych on vertically mounted plasma displays

(Image credit: Photography: Jesse Chehak)

American artist Bill Viola has died in California aged 73 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, with the news confirmed by his gallery, James Cohan.

Viola will be remembered for his experimental works through the medium of video, exploring spiritual and universal experiences with video installations, electric music performances and immersive environments over a five-decade career. Viola, who was born on 25 January 1951 in Queens, was acclaimed throughout his career, with highlights including a two-year solo show, ‘Bill Viola: A 25-Year Survey’, at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1997 and his representation of the United States at the Venice Biennale in 1995, with the installations, Buried Secrets.

‘Most of my works have no words, nor do they have music,’ Viola told Wallpaper* in 2016, to mark his major show at Yorkshire Sculpture Park the same year. ‘This is not a deliberate attempt to be “accessible” but that is one of the positive byproducts of working in this way. I explore universal themes with images that everyone can recognise and because these images are moving, they draw the viewer in, resulting in a personal experience of the piece. Moving images take time, and that is what I hope I can give to the viewer; time for reflection and most importantly, for self-reflection.’

For Viola, who often drew on spiritual themes when considering questions of life, death and what comes afterwards, video was an ultimately uplifting method of exploration. ‘Spirituality and religion are not always the same thing. When religion becomes dogma and a tool for power and suppression, it is no longer religion, nor is it spiritual. I have to be positive – after all, just in the last few decades Tibetan Buddhism has gone from being the religion of one small country to being practised worldwide, and this is a religion that teaches peace and compassion. Those who wish to listen will learn and will practise. The role of the artist is to describe the human soul; this is a very important contribution in trying to figure out who we are.’

Viola is survived by Kira Perov, his wife, long-time collaborator and executive director of Bill Viola Studio, and their two children.

Hannah Silver is a writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in journalism, spanning national newspapers and independent magazines. Currently Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles for print and digital, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury since joining in 2019.