Bill Viola, born in 1951, came from a generation of artists who were able follow the technological developments linked to making moving images. Video technology, systems that could be recorded, erased and cut magnetically, already appeared in the sixties, opening up far greater space for recording creative content than ever before. In the initial phase of the genre’s development, experimentation with technology and easy-to-record artist’s documentation was the starting point. In the eighties, video technology “reached its maturity”, with commercial and creative approaches taking a highly divergent path, while the genre gained more and more ground in the world’s exhibition spaces as an intermediary between the reality the media presented and the reality people personally experienced.

With its exhibition “Silence” the NEO art space seeks to bring the world of meditative works close to audiences through Bill Viola’s works, exuding focus, serenity and peace. The exhibition can also attract the attention of visitors who are interested in the realms of psychology, religion and technology and are open to symbols of cultural history.

The exhibition presents three works and an interview in the hope that Hungarian audiences will become more familiar with not only Bill Viola’s art but also with the uniqueness of video art. The three works – “Silent Mountain, 2001”, “The Encounter, 2012”, and “Ancestors, 2012” – explore different psychologically pivotal moments of human existence. 

The works, which can be seen until the end of March 2025, are connected by “silence”, as visitors can watch films in the exhibition space with the common feature of having no sound accompanying the projected sequences. The works are meditative, profound pieces about the human psyche, which, following Bill Viola’s death in July 2024, also constitute a memorial to his work.

A short film report accompanying the works was produced by Christian Lund in 2011 for the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.