VIDEO: SET I (6:17) VOOM PORTRAITS BY ROBERT WILSON Windows Media Video  Modem  Broadband Requires Windows Media Player 9 to view.
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VIDEO: SET II (6:00) VOOM PORTRAITS BY ROBERT WILSON Windows Media Video  Modem  Broadband Requires Windows Media Player 9 to view.
Quicktime Video  Modem  Broadband Requires QuickTime Version 6 to view.

VIDEO: SET III (5:20) VOOM PORTRAITS BY ROBERT WILSON Windows Media Video  Modem  Broadband Requires Windows Media Player 9 to view.
Quicktime Video  Modem  Broadband Requires QuickTime Version 6 to view.

The exhibition of portraits by Robert Wilson
at Ace Gallery Los Angeles finesses theater, fine art, opera, state-of-the-art technology, choreography, color, design and the realm of the senses into an experience that is transporting. 

As viewer, you experience an intimacy with the work in front of you that goes beyond any ordinary encounter with art. The exhibition is so dynamic and rich with content, you will find yourself not just looking at the portraits but also experiencing the sensation that the portraits know you are there.

The large collection of high-definition video portraits, created with equipment and technology provided by Voom HD Networks, fill room after room with huge, self-contained, flat-screen monitors. The hyper-real, life-size, often larger than life, seamlessly looped imagery is astonishing. But it is the visual, aural and theatrical genius of Robert Wilson that brings the cutting edge canvases to life.

Ali Hossaini, Executive Producer of Voom HD Labs, is a man dedicated to a vision of bringing fine art to broadcasting and technology. He knew he wanted to work with Robert Wilson and approached him about the project. Robert Wilson came up with the idea to do video portraits that now number more than 36.

In collaboration with Voom HD Labs, who supplied all of the funding and technical support, and, with the agreed upon goal between artist and producer to bring fine art to the masses, they chose subjects that would appeal to many.

The portraits can be seen on Voom’s
Gallery HD, available through the DISH Satellite Network – Channel 9472. It is the first and only High Definition Television Network exclusively devoted to the world of visual arts. The Voom Portraits by Robert Wilson exhibition at Ace Gallery Los Angeles offers the rare chance to see the portraits as freestanding works of art in limited edition. Prepare to be amazed.

There are portraits of film stars, celebrities, theater greats, choreographers, royalty, a philanthropist, an auto mechanic, a child and numerous animals, both wild and tame. Robert Wilson worked with every subject and actor extensively to find the perfect elements to portray and perform. Some pieces are highly staged and theatrical. Some are as pure and as exquisite as an extended real moment in time can be. All are brilliantly and painstakingly composed in complex, painterly light and color.

We had the opportunity to walk with Robert Wilson through the gallery exhibition and hear his comments and reminiscences inspired by individual portraits. (You can watch the video in 3 sets by going to the top of this page.)

It becomes clear that each work offers many layers of exposition beyond the surface recognition of a character's famous image or a famous image re-created using a well-known actor. Following the first impression, one feels compelled to stay and watch for action, even if it is just to see the flutter of an eye. As your attention becomes more focused, the smallest motion begins to resonate with transcendent meaning. Sub-layers reveal the intricacies Robert Wilson wants the viewer to examine; the crook of a finger, the light falling across a face, the extraordinary emotion in a breath, the intensity of stillness, the sound of a word, the sound of a sound.

To this writer, the Robert Wilson exhibition at Ace Gallery is phenomenal. At first glance, it is a pop show with pop icons. Who doesn't want to stare into Johnny Depp's eyes? That experience, alone, is worth the gallery visit, in my opinion. But, there is much, much more.

The greater importance lies in the vibrancy of this exhibition produced by joining highly developed, fine artistry with technology where technology graciously takes on a supporting role, so to speak, and bows in deference to the sensibilities of Robert Wilson, not trying to upstage them, as do so many contemporary marriages of media.

It proves that art can be created on the highest intellectual and sentient levels and achieve more than mere co-existence in parallel to technology. It requires artists and facilitators with vision and the courage to explore new ideas like Robert Wilson and Ali Hossaini.

Art and technology can join forces, reach farther and ultimately enrich our lives. Isn’t that what art is all about?

Among the subjects of the 34 VOOM
Portraits on exhibit at Ace  Gallery Los Angeles are Brad Pitt, Winona Ryder, Johnny Depp, Monaco’s Princess Caroline of Hanover, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Robert Downey, Jr., J.T. Leroy, Isabelle Huppert, Isabella Rossellini, Jeanne Moreau, Steve Buscemi, Alan Cumming, Willem Dafoe, Dita von Teese, Robin Wright Penn, Gao Xingjian, William Pope L., Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi, Gabriella Maione Ornstein, Macaulay Culkin, Salma Hayek, Marianne Faithfull, Lucinda Childs, Peter Stormare, Tatiana Platt, and Zhang Huan, as well as the world’s champion Sumo wrestler, Byamba Ulambayar, and auto mechanic, Norman Paul Fleming. The animal portraits include a South American horned frog, a Briard dog, a snow owl, a black panther and a porcupine.

Voom Portraits by Robert Wilson
Running Through April
Ace Gallery Los Angeles
5514 Wilshire Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90036

LINKS:

http://www.robertwilson.com/

http://www.voom.com

http://www.voom.tv/robert_wilson/

http://www.acegallery.net/artistmenu.php?Artist=17

http://www.acegallery.net/

Please address comments and/or questions about the article to
marti@socal.com