In January 2019, we’ll bring together two artists – born centuries apart – who explore the same universal themes with works of transcendent beauty and raw emotional power.
In 2006, pioneering video artist Bill Viola saw the finest of a collection of these drawings at Windsor Castle, and was astonished by the Renaissance master’s expressive use of the body to convey emotional and spiritual states. Although created in a radically different medium, Viola’s own works also grapple with life’s fundamental questions, asking us to consider the thresholds between birth, life and death. Both artists harness the symbolic power of sacred art, and both show us physical extremes and moments of transcendence.
This exhibition explores the affinities between Bill Viola and Michelangelo, and is conceived as an immersive journey through the cycle of life. You’ll see a selection of Michelangelo’s most poignant works, including those from Windsor such as his drawings of the Crucifixion, as well as Michelangelo’s only marble sculpture in the UK, the Virgin and Child with the Infant St John (the ‘Taddei Tondo’). From Viola, we feature 12 major installations spanning his entire career, including the extraordinary Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall), a five-metre-high projection depicting the ascent of the soul after death.
Royal Academy of Arts
Bill Viola / Michelangelo
Life Death Rebirth
26 January — 31 March 2019
Daily 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Extended opening hours: open until 9pm on 29 – 30 January and 2 February.
Main Galleries, Burlington House, Piccadilly
