Bill Viola: Wizje Czasu / Visions of Time

Bill Viola was one of the first contemporary artists to embrace video technology as a medium for artistic creation. He developed a distinctive approach to installations, integrating moving images with profound philosophical inquiry and an in-depth study of the old masters of painting, particularly those from the 13th to the 17th century. He meticulously studied and explored the evolving electronic techniques of image and sound recording, as well as their projection, up to the advent of the digital era. This breakthrough enabled him to uncover and illuminate for viewers the intricate physiological and psychological dimensions of visual perception- both shaped by human emotions and reflecting them.

While many video artists concentrated primarily on the conceptual aspects of their work, Viola refined the aesthetic form of his creations with extraordinary reverence. Over time, his installations transcended painterly compositions evoking awe, while simultaneously unsettling and surprising viewers with the visual effects and associations they provoke.

Drawing on shared elements of Eastern and Western traditions, his moving images often evoke a strange sense of déjà vu, at times directly referencing iconographic themes from the history of painting, while elsewhere documenting the metamorphosis of human physical and psychological states.