Details

Provenance

James Cohen, New York Acquired from the above by the present owner

Exhibited

New York, James Cohen, Bill Viola, November - December 2005 (ed. no. unknown) Bern, Kunstmuseum Bern and Cathedral of Bern, Bill Viola: Passions, April - July 2014 (ed. no. unknown) Uppsala, Uppsala Cathedral, Bill Viola, Visitation Reformation, September - November 2017 (ed. no. unknown) Philadelphia, Barnes Foundation, I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like: The Art of Bill Viola, June - September 2019 (ed. no. unknown) Catalogue note Ablutions , forms one of the seven parts of Viola’s Purification series. The series records the ritual preparations undertaken by a man and woman before their symbolic rebirth. Purification consists of seven adjoining image sequences across a time span of fifty minutes. The individual sections are: ‘The Approach’, ‘The Arrival’, ‘The Disrobing’, ‘Ablutions’, ‘Basin of Tears’, ‘The Dowsing’, and ‘Dissolution’. Ablutions, records the couple simultaneously washing their hands in two streams of clear water. The ritual repetitiveness of the couple’s actions creates a fascinating double viewpoint – we are transfixed by the movements of the individuals in the present moment and by the suggestion of larger shifts reflecting the stages of human life. The measured pace of the video, the large yet intimate size and the removal of sound all create for the viewer a transcendental space. We are made acutely aware of the movement of time.

Catalog summary

Bill Viola b. 1951 Ablutions colour video diptych on two plasma displays 101.5 by 122 by 10.8 cm. 40¼ by 48¼ by 4¼ in. Executed in 2005, this work is number 2 from an edition of 7, plus 1 artist's proof. This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. Provenance James Cohen, New York Acquired from the above by the present owner Exhibited New York, James Cohen, Bill Viola, November - December 2005 (ed. no. unknown) Bern, Kunstmuseum Bern and Cathedral of Bern, Bill Viola: Passions, April - July 2014 (ed. no. unknown) Uppsala, Uppsala Cathedral, Bill Viola, Visitation Reformation, September - November 2017 (ed. no. unknown) Philadelphia, Barnes Foundation, I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like: The Art of Bill Viola, June - September 2019 (ed. no. unknown) Catalogue note Ablutions , forms one of the seven parts of Viola’s Purification series. The series records the ritual preparations undertaken by a man and woman before their symbolic rebirth. Purification consists of seven adjoining image sequences across a time span of fifty minutes. The individual sections are: ‘The Approach’, ‘The Arrival’, ‘The Disrobing’, ‘Ablutions’, ‘Basin of Tears’, ‘The Dowsing’, and ‘Dissolution’. Ablutions, records the couple simultaneously washing their hands in two streams of clear water. The ritual repetitiveness of the couple’s actions creates a fascinating double viewpoint – we are transfixed by the movements of the individuals in the present moment and by the suggestion of larger shifts reflecting the stages of human life. The measured pace of the video, the large yet intimate size and the removal of sound all create for the viewer a transcendental space. We are made acutely aware of the movement of time.