Director Gerald Fox shows prominent video artist Bill Viola (currently the subject of a solo show at Palazzo Strozzi) working on two complex recent projects, Martyrs (2014) and Mary (2016), both permanent installations for St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The production of the two works is rendered in the film through backstage footage, interviews with the artist, his wife and collaborator Kira, and many other art world personalities, as well as archival material, and pieces of other video works, including The Path (2002), and The Deluge (2002) (both included in the Florence exhibition). The result is an intimate portrayal of Viola's professional and private lives; a man deeply linked to spiritual themes which form the basis of all his work, ranging from Christian culture to Buddhist thought to Islamic Sufism. An image emerges of an artist who lives in close connection with his work. 

The film, which premiered at the Biografilm Festival-International Celebration of Lives 2017.

 

 

Born in New York in 1963, he studied Visual Arts at Harvard University. Producer and director of the famous series The South Bank Show for London Weekend Television, his films portray some of the greatest contemporary artists, earning significant awards and prizes. In 1997, his documentary Gilbert & George won the prestigious BAFTA - British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Best Art Film. He then directed the feature film Mother's Milk in 2011 and a documentary about Marc Quinn: Marc Quinn - Making Waves, in 2014.