"Bill Viola: Something Above, Beyond, Below, Beneath"
2002-06-04 until 2002-09-15
Tacoma Art Museum
Tacoma, WA, USA United States of America

Motion and mysticism are the topic of Tacoma Art Museum’s (TAM) first video exhibition. Bill Viola: Something Above, Beyond, Below, Beneath is on view June 4 – September 15. This exhibition includes three video works Ascension, Chott el-Djerid (A Portrait in Light and Heat), and The Reflecting Pool. Information about the history of video art and a number of tools will be available to assist visitors in understanding this medium. 

In The Reflecting Pool, Viola employs the reflection of the pool as a device for perceiving the world. In it a man emerges from a forest and stops by a body of water. He jumps and time stops while he is left suspended in the air. All movement seen is that of the reflections on the waters surface. After a moment the man emerges from the water without ever having fallen in. He then walks back into the forest.

By carefully crafting sequences of images and sounds, Viola produces videos that hint at the enormity of our world and the human condition beyond what we see in front of us. He zooms in and out of vast landscapes, focuses on details, slows or speeds up “real time,” and juxtaposes different scenes. The artist urges viewers to trust their intuition and to discover multiple levels of awareness in the world.

Since the early 1970s, Viola has received international critical acclaim for his video projects. His videos are part of many Museum collections around the world, including MOMA and TATE. He has received numerous honors including a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Award (commonly known as the genius award) and a Getty Research Institute Scholar-in-Residence award. He also served as the U.S. Representative to the 46th Venice Biennale in 1995.

Viola earned a B.F.A. from the Experimental Studios of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University.

Tacoma Art Museum’s mission is to connect people through art. The Museum serves the diverse communities of the Northwest through its collection, exhibitions, and learning programs and is dedicated to art of modern and contemporary periods, with an active commitment to art and artists from the Northwest. Mysticism and the Art of Bill Viola Thursday, August 8, 6 pm FREE with admission Underlying the strong spiritual content of the video art of Bill Viola is inspiration from Western mysticism. In a lecture-providing context for the works, Dr. Jane Marie Pinzino of the University of Puget Sound presents an introduction to the traditions of the Western mystics.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Washington

Other Important Exhibitions in United States