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Born in Texas in 1941, Wilson was educated at the University
of Texas and Brooklyn Pratt Institute. After studying painting in Europe,
he moved to New York in the mid-1960s. In 1968 he founded an artists group
known as The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds, and began working and performing
in Lower Manhattan. The following year two of Wilson's major productions;
The King of Spain and The Life and TImes of Sigmund Freud, were staged inNew
York City.
 In 1971
Wilson gained international recognition for Deafman Glance, a silent "opera"
created with Raymond Andrews, a deaf-mute boy whom Wilson had adopted. Since
then, he has produced a steady stream of major works around the globe. In
particular, Einstein on the Beach, which he collaborated on with the composer
Philip Glass, won him lasting renown.
The work was performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1976; since then
it has been revived at numerous theatres. The list of major works that Wilson
has produced mostly in Europe includes Death Destruction and Detroit (1979),
Death Destruction and Detroit II (1987), Black Rider (1991), Alice (1992),
and Time Rocker (1996) .
In the early 1980s he created an ambitious project called CIVIL wars as
centerpiece of the Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angeles in 1984. This opera
was produced in collaboration with artists from many countries. As individual
parts have been produced in various places including Japan, it was a unique
international experiment whose epic was never seen in its entirety.
 Over
the last two decades, Wilson has brought his creativity to the standard
dramatic and operatic repertoire, designing and directing productions in
Milan, New York, Paris, Hamburg and other cities. His productions of Mozart's
Magic Flute (1991)and Puccini's Madam Butterfly (1993-97) especially won
universal praise. He has collaborated with numerous
artists, such as Laurie Anderson, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and Susan
Sontag. Time Rocker, which Wilson collaborated on with Lou Reed in 1996,
had a great success.
 While
known for creating highly acclaimed theatrical pieces, Wilson's work is
firmly rooted in the fine arts. His drawings, paintings and sculptures have
been presented around the world. In 1991 major retrospective exhibitions
have appeared at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Centre Georges Pompidou
in Paris, the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston and other venues. His
huge installation entitled Memory/Loss at the Venice Biennale in 1993 is
still fresh to the memory.
www.robertwilson.com/ |
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