VOOM PORTRAITS ROBERT WILSON
February 13–March 22, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday, February 13th
6:00-8:00 p.m.
The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) and The New Temporary Contemporary are proud to
present VOOM PORTRAITS ROBERT WILSON, an exhibition of provocative high-definition
video portraits by avant-garde artist Robert Wilson. These works were commissioned and
produced by VOOM HD, a US-based television provider devoted to high-definition television
channels. These portraits of people and animals are presented on large-scale HD plasma
flat-screens, and include celebrities like Johnny Depp, Isabella Rossellini, and Brad Pitt,
as well as a horned frog, snow owl, panting dog. In addition, each work is accompanied
by an original musical score. These works are part of a larger series, totaling 153
unique artworks, which comprise the VOOM Portrait series.
The HD technology communicates Wilson's poetic ideas in high-definition
state-of-the-art clarity. Producing each portrait takes months of development and the
process includes set design, lighting, makeup and costumes. The dramatic and
theatrical settings recall art history, popular culture, and are illustrated in stunning color.
An element of surprise is incorporated in each work with the use of movement. The
subjects of these portraits are limited to one or two gestures—such as a blink
or tap of the foot—that are delivered in a very controlled motion. On first glance,
the viewer sees a static image, and a sudden movement in the picture turns the viewing
experience into something completely different.
The last layer to Wilson's work is sound. Each work features an individual soundtrack from
musicians including Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Bernard Hermann, Michael Galasso, and Big Black.
The music is innovative and serves as another way these "still lives" become "real lives."
The underlying themes of Wilson's environments are often based upon theater and art history,
adding a layer of poignancy to the portraits. In the case of the celebrity images, the
juxtaposition of the star with the memory of a character in a play or historical figure creates
clever and humorous vignettes that delve into the viewer's memory, addressing the role of
fame and vanity in the context of contemporary culture. For example, the portrait of Johnny
Depp shows the actor dressed in drag and posing as Marcel Duchamp's Rrose Sélavy.
The portrait of Winona Ryder casts her as the character of Winnie from Samuel Beckett's
Happy Days, silently envisioning the events of the play from sunrise to sunset.
These groundbreaking video portraits stand alone as a unique art form and illustrate
Wilson's broad experience and skills as a seasoned artist. The portraits are a departure
from contemporary photography and video art in that they are an intimate, alive, and
engaging environment for the viewer. When asked about the ideas behind the images,
Wilson states "They are personal, poetic statements of different personalities."
About Robert Wilson
An internationally acclaimed theatre icon of the world stage, Wilson's oeuvre spans from the
ground-breaking Philip Glass opera, Einstein on the Beach (1976) and hip musical
The Black Rider (William S. Burroughs and Tom Waits) to classic works of Shakespeare
and Wagner operas. In addition to being an avant-garde stage director and playwright,
Wilson has experience working as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video artist,
and sound and lighting designer. Beginning in 2004, Wilson began working as an
artist-in-residence for VOOM HD. Known for his theatrical productions, Wilson's use of
HD technology has taken his skills of manipulating light and creating dramatic environments
to the next level by creating works that are a cross between photography, film,
literature and sound.
Robert Wilson's work has been exhibited at museums internationally, including the Museum
Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Institute of
Contemporary Art, Boston; with retrospectives at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the
Golden Lion award for sculpture at the 1993 Venice Biennale, first prize at the Biennial
Internacional de São Paolo, and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for lifetime
achievement. Robert Wilson was born in 1941 in Waco, Texas and currently resides in New York City.
Also on View at The Fabric Workshop and Museum
Threads of History: The Fabric Workshop and Museum
1977-2008, guest-curated by Patterson Sims, will be on view in FWM's second floor
gallery through April 2009. The exhibition presents a survey of over one hundred works produced
by former artists-in-residence. The scope of past and recent projects encompasses everything from
fabric yardage to large art installations and the show brings together groupings of artists'
multiples, wall hangings, lamps, shirts, pants, scarves, hand bags and satchels, and even
umbrellas. Guest Curator Patterson Sims, recently Director of the Montclair Art Museum,
has selected a broad spectrum of innovation and creativity that documents The Fabric Workshop
and Museum's commitment to artistic innovation and preservation since its inception in 1977 by
Founder and Artistic Director Marion Boulton Stroud.
VOOM PORTRAITS ROBERT WILSON was commissioned and produced by VOOM HD.
The programs of The Fabric Workshop and Museum are supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts;
The Judith Rothschild Foundation; Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency;
National Endowment for the Arts; Miller-Plummer Foundation; LLWW Foundation; U.S. Institute
of Museum and Library Services; Nimoy Foundation; The Arcadia Foundation; Claneil Foundation;
Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro; Independence Foundation; The Philadelphia Cultural Fund;
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation;
Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation; The Henry Luce Foundation matching gifts program;
The Barra Foundation; LEF Foundation; Louis N. Cassett Foundation; Quaker Chemical Foundation;
and the Board of Directors and members of The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
For more information, or to request images, please contact Jeffrey Bussmann,
jeff@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org,
at 215.561.8888 x229, or Elizabeth Latham,
liz@fabricworkshopandmuseum.org,
at 215.561.8888 x232.
Top, Left to Right: Robert Wilson, Horned Frog, 2006; Johnny Depp, 2006;
Kool (Snow Owl), 2006. All works commissioned and produced by VOOM HD.
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