Bill Viola: The Passions
The National Gallery, London 22 Oct. 2003 – 4 Jan. 2004

Previous: [1] [2] [3] [4]  Next: [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

LONDON, Dec 10, 2003/ FW/ --- At the Getty Museum during the press preview, director emeritus and curator John Walsh gave an introduction for The Passions exhibit touching upon how Bill Viola restored himself as an artist studying paintings of the old masters.

Viola was chosen to participate in the 1997-1998 Scholar Year at the Getty Research Institute on the theme “Representing the Passions.”

Participants in the project studied the way in which strong emotions have been represented and classified in art and drama in the past. Viola took this time at the Getty Museum to explore the vast library of literature and frequented the galleries to study paintings in the collection.

His study of medieval and Renaissance devotional paintings created the back story for the characters of The Passions.

At the exhibit preview Viola spoke of how he had been accustomed to working one on one to produce his video art.

This project represented for him a new and collaborative approach to the art world. In order to create The Passions it required a talented and supportive production team; his role was more that of a movie director.

Previous: [1] [2] [3] [4]  Next: [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]