ART CITIES:Dubai-Bill Viola
Bill Viola, in one of the pioneering figures of a generation of artists in the ‘70s employing video art and sound technologies. Known for his room-sized installations that envelop viewers with sound and feature multiple screens of moving images, Viola created sublimely romantic imagery in the tradition of painting but with radically new digital media.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Leila Heller Gallery Archive
There is often a spiritual component to Bill Viola’s work, with elements of Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and Christian mysticism underpinning themes considered universal: birth, death, love, sex, grief, and redemption. Bill Viola considers the “Phenomena of sense perception” as a path to self-awareness, therefore, his work is a blend of experimental video art and sound, including avant-garde music performance. In “The Vast: Mirrors of the Mind” Bill Viola’s solo exhibition at Leila Heller Gallery Dubai are on presentation a selection of pioneering video works, including works from the Sufi-inspired series “Transfiguration Studies” (2008), desert-based mediations on existence from the “Mirage” (2012) series, and the hauntingly infinite fluidity of the “Water Portraits” (2013). The “Mirage” series, including “Lifespans” (2012) and “Walking on the Edge” (2012), seeks to investigate the limits of our understanding of the position of the human in the natural order, both physically and metaphysically. The works were recorded at El Mirage – a six-mile long, dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert. Presented in horizontal and vertical formats, they portray figures from a distance through the distorting haze of a mirage, becoming increasingly visible as they walk towards the camera. Shot in high definition and slowed down, the vast arid landscape takes centre stage, as the travellers navigate the strong winds and the searing heat of the desert. From the “Transfiguration” series are on presentation two works: “Lenny” (2008) and “Howard” (2008), each portray figures on a voyage that is interminable because it is eternal. These works, like others from his oeuvre, express the importance to the artist of Sufism as a form of philosophic and aesthetic grounding for his work. The series “Water Portraits” (2013) was created in concert with and taking inspiration from the artist’s installation for the 52nd Venice Biennale, “Ocean without a Shore”, which took its title from the writings of the 13th century Andalusian Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi. Tthree works are on presentation accompanied by the sound of gently flowing water, the videos: ”Sharon” (2013), “Blake’s Dream” (2013), and “Madison” (2013), each portray a woman, a young man, and a little girl respectively completely submerged beneath the water, still, eyes closed, moved only by the gentle rippling of the current.
Info: Curator: Leila Heller Gallery, I-87, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, Duration: 9/3-22/4/17, Days & Hours: Sat-Thu 10:00-19:00, www.leilahellergallery.com
