American video artist who, until 1973, studied at the College of Visual Arts, Syracuse University, in New York. Between 1973 and 1980, he joined Cunnhingham and Tudor in the execution of the project, Rainforest. In 1974 he exhibited his installation video The Kitchen, for the first time, in New York and was technical director of Art/Tapes/22, in Florence until 1976. In 1977, he took part in Documenta 6 in Kassel; in 1980-81 he was in Japan and, in 1981, he settled in Long Beach. In 1983, he had a one-man show at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville in Paris; in 1987 a major retrospective at the New York Museum of Modern Art and, in 1992, at the Kunsthalle de Düsseldorf. In the same year, he took part in Documenta 9 in Kassel and, in 1995, at the Venice Biennale. Bill Viola explores the various technical capacities of modern media, using this technology for his own artistic ends. Thematically, Viola has been relatively constant throughout his career, focusing on the basic human experiences of birth and death. His installations ask spectators to reflect upon their own perception and their ability to be aware, managing to adapt video technique to the complex structure of human mechanisms.
