Gary Hill USA, b. 1951

Gary Hill (b. 1951, Santa Monica; lives and works in Seattle) is a pioneer of video art and intermedia practice. Over five decades, his work has encompassed sculpture, sound, performance, installation, and video, always probing the intersections between language, image, body, and perception.

Beginning in the late 1960s with sound-based metal sculptures, Hill quickly transitioned into video art, becoming one of its most important international figures. His works often investigate the “physicality of language” — how words resonate, are embodied, and affect human perception. Installations like Tall Ships (1993) and Why Do Things Get in a Muddle?(1984) exemplify his ability to combine immersive environments with philosophical inquiry. Hill’s art frequently destabilizes the viewer, creating sensory experiences that blur boundaries between technology and human consciousness. He has collaborated with poets, philosophers, and performers, and his practice is marked by an openness to experiment across disciplines.

He has received many of the most prestigious recognitions in contemporary art, including the Golden Lion for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale (1995), the MacArthur Fellowship (1998), and the Kurt Schwitters Prize (2000). He has also been awarded fellowships from the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations and honorary doctorates from the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań and Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

Collections 

– Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York

– Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

– San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)

– Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona

– Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel

– Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany 

– Pinault Collection, France

– Science Museum, London

– Seattle Central Public Library 

– Coliseum and Temple of Venus and Rome, Rome (performance installation)