Visitors move through the various rooms of the Grand Palais silently-  like the videos themselves-  as if they were at Church. Viola’s work captivates and moves,  without being preachy. Especially noteworthy is “Going Forth By Day” 2002 where a large room is taken up by five seemingly unrelated super-sized video stories, using a cast of about 100 people. Best to get comfy on the floor, relax and watch the scenes unfold. Viola’s work requires the viewer’s time. Below an image from “First Light.”

Below, is an image from another room, the artist’s 2013 “Dreamers.”

I loved the Paris show so much that as soon as I got back to London, I took the tube to St Paul’s Cathedral to see Viola’s latest work. After a decade of thought, Viola has made a four-screen video installation for St Paul’s Cathedral entitled “Martyrs” to be accompanied by “Mary” next year. This must-see seven minute video marks the first time a moving image will feature prominently in a famous Christian cathedral.  Viola’s contemplative works look right at home here.

The various martyrs- three men and a woman – are tested by violent earth, lashing winds, scorching fire and pummelling water. They never relent, even when it looks really tortuous (those poor actors).  Viola has said that he likes to think of his work as spiritual rather than religious.

To coincide with Martyr’s, Tate Modern across the Millennium Bridge is doing a special display of  Viola’s “Tiny Deaths” 1993.

June, 2014

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And for those willing to climb up several hundred steps, the cathedral offers stunning views both down to the distant cathedral floor where visitors become dots blending nicely into the mosaic patterned floor.

And outside lie panoramic views of skyscrapers, steeples, bridges, Tate Modern and the busy river life along the Thames.

But this wasn’t why I came to St Paul’s. I wanted to see the donkeys.

Twenty-five brightly-colored, life-size asses trotted from Cairo to St Paul’s Cathedral in an inter-faith exhibition called ‘Caravan‘. Artists from the West and Egypt, of varying religions, were asked to decorate these fiberglass forms, sculpted by prominent Egyptian artist Reda Abdel Rahmen.  Known to be loyal, hardworking and stubborn, donkeys symbolize peace in the Bible and the Qur’an. They are also humble animals, associated with the poorest of the poor. Designed to build bridges between East and West, the donkey exhibition will soon be auctioned off by Sotheby’s with all proceeds going to Egyptian charities helping the poor, regardless of whether they are Muslim or Christian.

October, 2013

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