This exhibition is sponsored by Bill Viola, Going Forth By Day: First Light (Panel 5), 2002. Video/sound installation, dimensions variable. Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin. Photo: Kira Perov. Going Forth By Day is a major new commission created by Bill Viola for the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin; it makes its North American premiere this fall at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. For this work, Viola references fresco painting to create a powerful five-part projection-based installation that examines cycles of birth, death, and rebirth. Each "panel"—a projection seen directly on the walls of a space—is approximately 35 minutes long and was recorded in state-of-the-art High Definition Video. The suite of works creates an epic articulation of the passage of nature's cycles and offers mythic reflections on the temporal flow of birth and regeneration. Although Viola's work is primarily engaged with the exploration of the moving image, he has been deeply influenced by and bears a kinship to the great Renaissance artists. For his new commission, he cites Giotto's frescoes for the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua as influences, referring to the chapel as one of the great works of installation art. Viola's command of sound, light, and space; technical mastery; and deep understanding of art and spirituality in Western and non-Western practice come together in Going Forth By Day, transporting the viewer into a deeply reflective engagement, with layers of complexity and inspiration that resonate far beyond the temporal realm. —John G. Hanhardt and Maria-Christina Villaseñor