Bill Viola
‚Inverted Birth‘

New York

James Cohan Gallery presents ‘Inverted Birth’ an exhibition with the video master Bill Viola. The show features six major recent works, all alluding to his main themes, death and born following his famous adage ‘Birth is not a beginning, death is not an end.’

Six artworks are on view which names directly refer to their topic and substance. ‘Ancestors’ (2012), ‘Inverted Birth’ (2014) and the Martyrs series (2014) composed of ‚Earth Martyr‘, ‚Air Martyr‘, ‚Fire Martyr‘ and ‚Water Martyr’ all explore the continuum of life cycle. With a really recognizable aesthetics already introduced with his iconic ‘The Greeting’ or ‘Emergence’ inspired by medieval masters such as Giotto, Viola reasserts his dexterity with these new videos installations.

The work that named the exhibition ‘Inverted Birth‘ is a monumental installation that translates the continuance of life through fluids gradually changing colors while covering a standing man. The passage from birth to death is therefore signified through the dark water that turns into light. In the Gallery 3, the martyr series refers to the large scale installation hosted by the St Paul Cathedral in London, the first moving image received in a British Cathedral.

Inverted Birth, 2014, Color High-Definition video projected onto large screen in dark room, Performer: Norman Scott, Photo: Kira Perov

At the mercy of the elements: Earth Martyr, Air Martyr, Fire Martyr and Water Martyr, by Bill Viola

Bill Viola

James Cohan

December 10 – January 30, 2016

533 West 26 Street
New York NY 10001
USA

Calendar