Hermès

The wonderful world of Hermès collided with the spectacular, creative vision of the director and artist Robert Wilson in New York. Working together to present a surreal, off-kilter realm centered around Hermès’ home collections, the performance-driven installation, entitled ‘Here Elsewhere’, is a captivating articulation of the label’s values.

Upon entering a prismatic, mirrored archway, guests found themselves in an abstracted home environment, adorned with Hermès furniture, flatware, home accessories and jewelry that a cast of Wilson’s performers delicately interacted with.

In the next circular room, an actress, decked out in a silver number that looked fit for the New York City Ballet stage, stood on a podium as the Hermès objects rotated around her on a 360 degree video screen to the sounds of a dramatic Phillip Glass score. She was followed by another actress in a sparkling red gown, who repeated a series of dancer-ly movements on the podium.

In the next circular room, an actress, decked out in a silver number that looked fit for the New York City Ballet stage, stood on a podium as the Hermès objects rotated around her on a 360 degree video screen to the sounds of a dramatic Phillip Glass score. She was followed by another actress in a sparkling red gown, who repeated a series of dancer-ly movements on the podium.

Van Cleef & Arpels

With Beautifully Bejeweled Animals as His Cast, Robert Wilson Built a Stirring Noah’s Ark for Van Cleef & Arpels “Throughout my career, animals have been quite important,” the theater impresario Robert Wilson said during the press preview of Van Cleef & Arpels’s latest high jewelry collection in New York on Wednesday.

Thinking about the way animals experience the world around them inspires him, he explained. For instance, “animals feel sound, they don’t only hear or listen with the eardrum.” It is this insight that allowed Wilson—who has produced extraordinarily imaginative collaborations with fellow artists like Philip Glass and Marina Abramovic—to create an installation to perfectly complement the French jewelry house’s haute joaillerie pieces inspired by the story of Noah’s Ark.

Nike

Celebrated worldwide by the theater and art community, Robert Wilson’s avant-garde collaboration with Nike Sportswear created a cultural phenomenon. His high-definition video portrait series features iconic Nike-sponsored athletes Sofia Boutella, Shingo Iwasaki and Nigel Sylvester. In association with the Olympics, Wilson’s multi-media installation premiered at the Nike Sportswear’s launch in Beijing, China and extended into a global marketing campaign.

Louis Vuitton

Robert Wilson was commissioned by Vuitton to design a series of handbags and window displays which were featured in 300 LV stores worldwide. It was the first time Wilson immersed himself in the world of visual merchandising. Robert was one of a select group of artists including Olafur Eliasson, Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami & Richard Prince that the luxury brand has invited to work on special projects in the past.

Giorgio Armani

Robert Wilson was commissioned by Giorgio Armani to design a retrospective. Originally presented at the Guggenheim Museum, New York in 2000, this touring retrospective of the designer’s work traveled all over the world. Through a dramatic combination of elements – including floating mannequins, mud-like floor and wall coverings – Wilson transformed the museum, providing a spectacular environment in which to experience the multifaceted aspects of Armani’s creations.

Video Portraits

By incorporating a multitude of creative elements; lighting, costume, make up, choreography, gesture, text, voice, set design, and narrative – Wilson’s video portraits act as a complete synthesis of all the media in the realm of his art making. Presented in infinite loops, the Video Portraits seem at first glance to be traditional still portraits. But then, the sitters perform a simple act – a small movement, a blink, a tap of the foot – and the experience of watching them changes entirely. The clarity of HD technology heightens these subtle effects.

Among the subjects produced to date are Brad Pitt, Winona Ryder, Johnny Depp, Monaco’s Princess Caroline of Hanover, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Robert Downey, Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, Isabella Rossellini, Jeanne Moreau, Steve Buscemi, Alan Cumming, Willem Dafoe, Lady Gaga, and Dita von Teese. The collection also includes captivating animal portraits, including a South American horned frog, a Briard dog, a snow owl, a black panther and a porcupine. The portraits also include individual soundtracks, from musicians including Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Bernard Hermann, Michael Galasso, Big Black, Bach as interpreted by Glenn Gould, Hans Peter Kuhn and Ethel Merman.

To date, the series has garnered international attention and has been exhibited at venues around the world, including: P.S.1 and The Paula Cooper Gallery, New York; MADRE Museum, Naples Italy; Bass Museum of Art, Miami; Palazzo Reale, Milan Italy; Neue Galerie, Gratz Austria; Hamburg Kunsthalle, Hamburg Germany; The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia; The National Museum of Singapore; the Spoleto Festival, Italy; and the Akademie der Künst, Berlin.

Max Ernst Museum:
That Hat Makes The Man

“Some nearly fifty years after he first created his surrealist sensation ‘Deafman Glance,’ Robert Wilson tips his hat to his mentor Max Ernst. Wilson’s staged theatrical performances, in the words of surrealist writer Louis Aragon, are ‘what we others, who fathered surrealism, what we dreamed it might become after us, beyond us.’ No mere retrospective or remembrance, this exhibition is more of a collaboration between two of the world’s quintessential dreamers.

The theme of Wilson’s exhibition reflects his wish to infuse the museum with the spirit of Ernst and that of the Watermill Center, the artists’ community where Wilson shares his personal collection of art and artifacts with the public and nurtures the creativity of young and emerging artists. The exhibition clearly conveys Wilsons creative processes, featuring a selection of objects that serve as the raw material from which the artist draws his inspiration in many of the same ways Max Ernst drew inspiration from his own diverse collection.

Minneapolis Institure of Art:
Power and Beauty in China’s Last Dynasty

“Power and Beauty in China’s Last Dynasty” presents treasures from the museum’s renowned collection of Chinese art, including rare court costumes, jades, lacquers, paintings, and sculpture. February 3 – June 10, 2018 Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, USA The florescence of the arts in the Chinese Qing court rivaled that of Europe’s great kingdoms. This backdrop of opulence also served to affirm imperial power and prestige, and as stagecraft for the emperor’s leading role as “son of heaven.” Mia’s curator of Chinese art, Liu Yang, has collaborated with celebrated artist, director, and stage designer Robert Wilson to create an experiential exhibition that engages the senses and evokes the otherworldly, intoxicating—and even dangerous—world of the Qing court (1644–1912).Exhibition Concept and Design: Robert Wilson – Co-Design: Stephanie Engeln – Curator: Liu Yang – Lighting Design: A.J. Weissbard Sound Design: Rodrigo Gava – Contributing Visual Artists: Wang Dongling, Yang Yongliang – Minneapolis Institute of Art: Matthew Welch.

The Louvre:
Living Rooms

Robert Wilson was the guest of Louvre museum from 11th of November 2013 to 17 of February 2014 with an exposition, performances, art installations, meeting and conferences. The theme of Wilson’s residency at the Louvre, ‘Living Rooms,’ reflects his wish to infuse the museum with the spirit of the Watermill Center on Long Island, the artists’ community where he lives, works, shares his personal collection of art and artifacts with the public, and nurtures the creativity of young and emerging artists. In the Salle de la Chapelle, Wilson presents an exhibition clearly conveying his creative processes, featuring a selection of objects that serve as the raw material for his artistic inspiration.

The Life and Death of Marina Abramović

By Robert Wilson and Marina Abramović Premiered on July 9, 2011 at the Manchester International Festival, The Lowry, Manchester, United Kingdom Performed in English.

Einstein on the Beach

Widely credited as one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th century, this rarely performed work launched its director Robert Wilson and composer Philip Glass to international success when it was first produced in Avignon, France in 1976 with subsequent performances in Europe and in New York at the Metropolitan Opera. It is still recognized as one of their greatest masterpieces.

Nearly four decades after it was first performed and twenty years since its last production, ‘Einstein on the Beach’ was reconstructed for a major international tour including the first performances in the United Kingdom and the first North American presentations ever held outside of New York City. The international tour of Einstein on the Beach began in Montpellier in the spring of 2012 and concluded in South Korea in the fall of 2015, bringing this ground-breaking work to new audiences and an entirely new generation.

‘Einstein on the Beach’ breaks all of the rules of conventional opera. Instead of a traditional orchestral arrangement, Glass chose to compose the work for the synthesizers, woodwinds and voices of the Philip Glass Ensemble. Non-narrative in form, the work uses a series of powerful recurrent images as its main storytelling device shown in juxtaposition with abstract dance sequences originally by Andrew de Groat, and for the 2012 version by American choreographer Lucinda Childs. It is structured in four interconnected acts and divided by a series of short scenes, or ‘knee plays.’

Taking place over almost five hours, there are no traditional intermissions. Instead, the audience is invited to wander in and out at liberty during the performance. ‘Einstein on the Beach’ was revolutionary when first performed and is now considered one of the most remarkable performance works of our time. You can purchase books and merchandise related to Einstein on the Beach in our shop section.

Macbeth

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi, Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave Premiered on November 23, 2012 at the Theatro Municipal, São Paulo, Brazil Premiered on February 5, 2013 at the Teatro Comunale, Bologna, Italy