Bill Viola, and his wife, Kira Perov, gave a presentation of their four new video pieces on July 19th at Anderson Ranch. One of these pieces is The Dreamers, currently on display at London's Blain/Southern Gallery. As Viola explains, "the piece is made up of seven large plasma screens depicting seven individuals submerged underwater at the bottom of a stream bed. They're not dead, but they're not alive. Their eyes are closed and they appear to be at peace. Water ripples across their bodies, subtly animating their movements. The sound of running water permeates the space as dreams filter through the room". The Dreamers.
Viola is considered one of the world's leading artists in contemporary art. His video work studies the basic human events we all face in life: birth, death and the understanding of our conscious and subconscious mind. He was a scholar-in-residence at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has had work exhibited in London's National Gallery, the Guggenheim in New York and Berlin and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, just to name a few. He is the 2013 National Artist Honoree at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center. To see more of Bill Viola's work, visit his Website.
