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The Nordic Watercolour Museum in
Skärhamn on the west coast of Sweden is showing works by the renowned
artist Bill Viola this summer. The works are:
Ablutions (2005), Three Women (2008), Dissolution
(2005), The Reflecting Pool (1978–79), The Passing
(1991), and the monumental work The Messenger (1996). The
documentary The Eye of the Heart is also shown.
Life's
innermost mysteries are at the core of Bill Viola’s art. He was born
in New York in 1951 and has for over forty years been at the centre of
developing video as an art form. He has created a large number of
unforgettable works in which moving images and sound merge and collaborate
with their surroundings. Always true to his innermost concepts, Viola
nevertheless exploits the very latest techniques while deriving his
inspiration from such varying sources as classical art and Zen Buddhist
philosophy. With the help of moving images the exhibition invites the
viewer to a fantastic experience where water and the transformation between
birth, life, and death are the central themes.
The Nordic
Watercolour Museum is a unique oasis by the sea where international art
meets incredible natural scenery. The museum specializes in the medium of
watercolour. Watercolour art is usually associated with works on paper but
the museum’s ambition is to expand those limits and also look at
watercolour in terms of its composite parts—water, pigment, and
paper. The museum opened in 2000 and after twelve years of success the
museum has finally expanded with a new gallery. The gallery makes it
possible for the museum to show parts of its collection permanently. The
collection consists of the work of more than a hundred artists, and the aim
is gradually to build up a unique treasure of Nordic art.
Exhibitions at The Nordic Watercolour Museum
Bill Viola: 27
May–9 September 2012
Light & Space: 27 May–9 September
2012
Peter Land: 23 September–2 December 2012
*Image above:
Bill Viola, The Messenger, 1996. Video
and sound installation. Colour video on vertical wall screen in darkened
room. Amplified stereo sound. Photo: Kira Perov. © Bill Viola.
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