Bill Viola was born in New York in 1951 and completed his studies at Syracuse University in 1973. A pioneer of video art, Viola has been creating installations, video/film, sound environments, video projections on flat panels, and works for concerts, operas and sacred spaces for over forty years.

In his video works, Viola masterfully employs sophisticated audiovisual technologies, while exploring spirituality and perception in the human experience, focusing on universal themes such as birth, death, awakening consciousness… The American artist’s sources are drawn from Eastern and Western art, from the spiritual traditions of Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism and Christian mysticism.

Viola represented the USA at the 1995 Venice Biennale. Other major solo exhibitions include Bill Viola: A 25-Year Survey, organised by the Whitney Museum of American Art (1997); The Passions, at the J. Paul Getty Museum (2003); Hatsu-Yume (First Dream), at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2006). Paul Getty Museum (2003); Hatsu-Yume (First Dream), at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2006); Bill Viola, visioni interiori, at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (2008); Bill Viola, at the Grand Palais, Paris (2014); and Bill Viola: Electronic Renaissance, at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence (2017). Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) [Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)], the first of two permanent works made for St Paul’s Cathedral in London, opened in 2014, followed by Mary (Mary, 2016). In 2004 Viola made a four-hour video for Peter Sellars’ production of Wagner’s opera Tristan and Isolde, which was performed numerous times in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan. Throughout his career, Viola has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the MacArthur Foundation Award for ‘Creative Genius’ (1989), the XXI International Catalonia Prize (2009) and the Praemium Imperiale, awarded by the Japan Art Association (2011).