Bill Viola: Slowly Turning Narrative
Bill Viola: Slowly Turning Narrative
On view at LACMA for the first time in almost 20 years, Slowly Turning Narrative (1992) is a room-sized video installation by Bill Viola in the museum’s collection. An acknowledged pioneer of video art, Viola was crucial in establishing video as a major medium in contemporary art. Slowly Turning Narrative offers Viola’s characteristically hypnotic sense of wonderment at the world and also reveals the fullness of his philosophical vision.
Slowly Turning Narrative includes two projections on a large central rotating screen. One presents images of virtually everything that constitutes life, embracing the broadest sweep from birth to death. The other shows a close-up of Viola’s head incanting “the one who lives,” “the one who acts,” “the one who reads,” and more. As this screen rotates, a mirror on the back comes into view, reflecting the image of the viewer in this video evocation of human existence.
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Kitzia and Richard Goodman and Meredith and David Kaplan, with generous annual funding from Terry and Lionel Bell, Kevin J. Chen, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, David Lloyd and Kimberly Steward, Kelsey Lee Offield, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony and Lee Shaw, Lenore and Richard Wayne, Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto, and The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation.
Image: Bill Viola, Slowly Turning Narrative, 1992, video/sound installation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Council Fund, installation view, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020, © Bill Viola Studio, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
- April 1, 2021 – June 27, 2021
- Resnick Pavilion
- Estimated visit time: 15 minutes
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Kitzia and Richard Goodman and Meredith and David Kaplan, with generous annual funding from Terry and Lionel Bell, Kevin J. Chen, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, David Lloyd and Kimberly Steward, Kelsey Lee Offield, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony and Lee Shaw, Lenore and Richard Wayne, Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto, and The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation.
Image: Bill Viola, Slowly Turning Narrative, 1992, video/sound installation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Council Fund, installation view, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020, © Bill Viola Studio, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
Media
Join David A. Ross, chair, MFA Art Practice, School of the Visual Arts and longtime friend of Bill Viola, and Carol S. Eliel, senior curator, Modern Art, LACMA, for an insightful discussion of the artist's career and video installation, Slowly Turning Narrative.