Video artist Bill Viola dies at 73

American video artist Bill Viola died Friday at the age of 73 at his residence in Long Beach, California. The New Yorker passed away “peacefully” at his home due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease, the Bill Viola Studio, directed by his wife Kira Perov, reported on social media. Known as one of the world’s most important contemporary artists, Viola quickly began to gain a reputation when the first artistic creators working with video began to emerge in the 1970s. Since then, he has been considered one of the pioneers of the genre in an artistic career that has won awards around the world, including the International Catalonia Award in 2009. In fact, after visiting Barcelona to receive the award, Viola passed through Lleida to brand new In Seu Vella one of his video installations, Backfrom the group Ocean No beachacquired by the Soregi Foundation. The artist then explained to SEGRE that the Lleida monument “is the most impressive place where my work has been displayed.” In 2019, this video projection became the first permanent installation of the Soregi Foundation’s Planta project in Balaguer, in a room dedicated to the work.