Robert Wilson

Founded in 1992 by internationally renowned theater artist Robert Wilson, the Watermill Center on Long Island, New York, is a unique performance art laboratory for young and emerging artists. This compendium of documents, texts and images includes contributions by artists Marina Abramovic and Jonathan Meese, long-time Wilson collaborators Lucinda Childs and Philip Glass, performers Isabella Rossellini and Isabelle Huppert, curators Chrissie Iles and Elisabeth Sussman, singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, scholars Antonio Damasio and Bonnie Marranca, collector Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller, writers Jay McInerney and Barbara Goldsmith, as well as many Watermill Center alumni artists. Covering every aspect of life at the Center, Wilson’s summer workshops, the year-round residency programs, the extensive collection, outreach programs with community, landscaped gardens and architecture, this is the first extensive glimpse into the world of Watermill and an intimate look at Wilson’s artistic process and the legacy he is creating for future generations.

Phillips de Pury & Co. published the catalogue entitled VOOM PORTRAITS to coincide with the series premiere exhibition at Phillips de Pury & Co. and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. These stunning works of art are developed by Wilson in collaboration with his subjects – superstars and royalty, ordinary people and extraordinary animals – and draw inspiration from movies, art and history. Through his signature use of light, his investigations into the structure of a simple movement, the classical rigor of his scenic and furniture design, Wilson has continuously articulated the force and originality of his vision. Originally presented in infinite loops, the book contains stills from each video portrait.