Robert Wilson's works integrate a wide variety of artistic media, combining movement, dance, lighting, furniture design, sculpture, music and text into a unified whole. His images are aesthetically striking and emotionally charged, and his productions have earned the acclaim of audiences and critics worldwide. Together with composer Philip Glass, Wilson created the monumental Einstein on the Beach, which altered conventional notions of traditional operatic form.
Wilson's numerous collaborators include diverse writers and musicians such as Susan Sontag, Lou Reed, Heiner Mueller, Jessye Norman, David Byrne, and Tom Waits. Prolific in the traditional operatic repertoire, Wilson has left his imprint on masterworks such as La Flute Enchante, Pellas et Mlisande,
Der Ring des Nibelungen and Madama Butterfly. Wilson's practice is firmly rooted in the fine and graphic arts and extensive retrospectives have been presented at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He has mounted installations at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Villa
Stuck in Munich, London's Clink Street Vaults and the Guggenheim Museums in New York and Bilbao.
Wilson has recently directed a series of "Voom Portraits" in association with Voom HD Networks. These stunning works of art, so far numbering over thirty, have captured superstars and royalty, ordinary people and extraordinary animals in a series of high-definition video portraits presented in infinite loops,
each drawing inspiration from movies, art, history and more. 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. First shown at Paula Cooper Gallery and Phillips de Pury in New York, they are now traveling to other institutions worldwide.
Wilson hosts students and creative professionals from around the world year round at the Watermill Center on Eastern Long Island. The Watermill Center dedicated its main building in 2006 and continues to foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration.