Iconic BAM Artists
Robert Wilson
A native of Waco,Texas, Robert Wilson was educated at the
University of Texas and arrived in New York in 1963 to attend
Brooklyn's Pratt Institute. Soon thereafter,Wilson set to work with
his Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds and, together with his company,
developed his first signature works. Regarded as a leader of
Manhattan's then-burgeoning downtown art scene, Wilson turned his
attention to large-scale opera and, with Philip Glass, created the
monumental Einstein on the Beach (1976), which achieved
worldwide acclaim and altered conventional notions of a moribund
form.
Following Einstein, Wilson worked increasingly with major
European theaters and opera houses. In collaboration with
internationally renowned writers and performers, Wilson created
landmark original works that were featured regularly at the
Festival d'Automne in Paris, Der Berliner Ensemble, the Schaubühne
in Berlin, the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, the Salzburg Festival,
and BAM's Next Wave Festival. He has also applied his striking
formal language to the operatic repertoire. Wilson continues to
direct revivals of his most celebrated productions, and with a
practice firmly rooted in the fine arts, he often exhibits his
drawings, furniture designs, and installations in museums and
galleries internationally. Every summer Wilson decamps to the
Watermill Center, a laboratory for the arts and humanities in
eastern Long Island that brings together students and experienced
professionals in a multidisciplinary environment dedicated to
creative collaboration. Among his numerous awards and honors are an
Obie for direction, the Golden Lion for sculpture from the Venice
Biennale, and a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in drama. He has
been named a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres by the French
Minister of Culture.
