Bill Viola

He trained in Experimental Studio at Syracuse University (New York State) and became the assistant to Nam June Paik, a pioneer in video art. As of 1972, he started producing video installations, but it was in the 1990s that he started developing his large immersive videos, made with professional actors. His work used sophisticated technologies in order to explore the spiritual and sensorial dimensions of human experiences. The artist was deeply marked by an experience where he almost drowned in a lake. For that reason, water held a central role in his work, and he used it as one of his key symbolic elements. He represented the United States at the Venice Biennale in 1995. In 2003, he became the first contemporary artist to have a solo exhibition at the National Gallery in London.

In 1990, the Fondation Cartier dedicated an exhibition to him called Bill Viola. The Sleep of Reason. Three years later, it presented some of his works as part of the Azur exhibition.