SALZBURG.-The Museum der Moderne opened the exhibit Bill Viola/Nan Hoover: Some Times through July 6. This exhibition presents films by the internationally renowned American video artist Bill Viola juxtaposed with photographs of the Berlin-based multimedia artist Nan Hoover. Both artists – though using completely different methods - examine speeds of experience and perception in their works. Blurring the borders between “outside“ and “inside” thus refers to the sensation of time as a fundamental category of perception. Both artists present detailled observations of things which take on a life of their own, without obvious sensation and without action in the classic sense. The exhibition’s concept was created in collaboration with the collector René Schmitt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Bill Viola (b.1951) is considered a pioneer in the medium of video art and is internationally recognized as one of today’s leading artists. He has been instrumental in the establishment of video as a vital form of contemporary art, and in so doing has helped to greatly expand its scope in terms of technology, content, and historical reach. For over 35 years he has created videotapes, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances, flat panel video pieces, and works for television broadcast. Viola’s video installations—total environments that envelop the viewer in image and sound—employ state-of-the-art technologies and are distinguished by their precision and direct simplicity. They are shown in museums and galleries worldwide and are found in many distinguished collections. His single channel videotapes have been widely broadcast and presented cinematically, while his writings have been extensively published, and translated for international readers. Viola uses video to explore the phenomena of sense perception as an avenue to self-knowledge. His works focus on universal human experiences—birth, death, the unfolding of consciousness—and have roots in both Eastern and Western art as well as spiritual traditions, including Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and Christian mysticism. Using the inner language of subjective thoughts and collective memories, his videos communicate to a wide audience, allowing viewers to experience the work directly, and in their own personal way.
Nan Hoover was born in 1931. She attended the Corcoran Gallery Art School. Hoover moved to Amsterdam in 1969, and has performed and exhibited her work extensively throughout Europe. She received a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Fellowship in 1980. Her video works have been exhibited at festivals and institutions internationally, including Documentas 6 and 8, Kassel, Germany; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Centre International d'Art Contemporain, Montreal; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Kijkhuis, The Hague; Sydney Video Festival; Berlin Film Festival; Kunstmuseum, Bern; and Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany. Hoover lives in Amsterdam.
