NEW YORK, NY.- James Cohan Gallery presents its fifth gallery exhibition by internationally acclaimed American artist Bill Viola. The exhibition opens October 23 and runs through December 19, 2009. For over 35 years Bill Viola has been instrumental in the establishment of video as a vital form of contemporary art, greatly expanding its scale, creative scope and historical reach. He has created video films, architectural video installations, flat screen pieces, sound environments, electronic music performances, as well as works for television broadcast, opera, and sacred spaces. His works focus on universal human experiences—birth, death, the unfolding of consciousness—and have roots in both Eastern and Western art as well as spiritual traditions. They employ state-of-the-art technology and are distinguished by their emotional power, precision and direct simplicity.

The exhibition spans two decades and includes the New York premiere of "Pneuma" (1994-2009) a video/sound installation, and several flat-screen pieces from the "Transfigurations Series", Viola's newest body of work, which originated with "Ocean Without a Shore", created for the 15th century Church of San Gallo during the Venice Biennale in 2007.