American Video Art Master Bill Viola Passes Away at 73

Building a Philosophical Artistic World on Human Life
Paik Namjun's Assistant and Disciple: "He Is My Hero"

American video art master Bill Viola passed away on the 12th at the age of 73.

Video art master Bill Viola.
[Photo by Kukje Gallery]

On the 15th, Kukje Gallery announced that Bill Viola, who had been battling Alzheimer's disease, died at his home in Long Beach, California, USA.

Artist Lee Ufan, who collaborated with Viola, mourned, saying, "My friend Bill Viola, the great pioneer who elevated video to a high form of art, will shine forever."

Born in New York in 1951, Viola studied in the Studio Art Department at Syracuse University in 1973. In 1995, he participated as the U.S. representative artist at the 46th Venice Biennale, presenting "The Greeting." In 2002, he attracted attention with his large-scale installation work "Going Forth by Day."

Viola, a disciple of Nam June Paik, Korea's representative video artist, consistently explored the universal human experiences of birth and death through various media such as architectural video, sound installations, and electronic music performances. Through this, he was recognized as a pioneer in new media, video, and installation art.

He expanded the possibilities of video media while posing philosophical and fundamental questions about human life through works based on spiritual traditions such as Eastern and Western art, Buddhist Zen, Islamic Sufism, and Christian mysticism.

In particular, Viola is praised for his focus on the theme of temporality, sublimating it into art, changing the perception of video art as a whole, and establishing it as an important genre in contemporary art.

The artist is also well known for his slow-motion technique using high-speed filming. By artificially slowing down the speed of time and visualizing its flow, he led viewers to contemplate the invisible inner world, thereby altering perception and cognition.

Domestically, Kukje Gallery, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and the Busan Museum of Art have introduced Bill Viola's works to audiences.

Kukje Gallery plans to revisit his life, death, and innovative video art works through a solo exhibition scheduled for this coming November.

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