521 W 21st Street
Robert Wilson (b. 1941, Waco, TX) has decisively shaped the look of theater and opera through his signature use of light, his investigations into the structure of a simple movement, and the classical rigor of his scenic and furniture design. A prominent figure in Manhattan’s burgeoning avant-garde, in 1976 Wilson turned his attention to large-scale opera and, with Philip Glass, created the monumental Einstein on the Beach. Wilson’s practice is firmly rooted in the fine arts and his drawings, furniture designs, and installations have been exhibited widely. Retrospectives have been presented at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and he has presented installations at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; London’s Clink Street Vaults; and the Guggenheim Museums in New York and Bilbao. His tribute to Isamu Noguchi has been exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum, and his installation of the Guggenheim’s Giorgio Armani retrospective traveled to London, Rome, and Tokyo. Each summer Wilson decamps to the Watermill Center in eastern Long Island—a laboratory for the arts and humanities—which brings together students and experienced professionals in a multi-disciplinary environment dedicated to creative collaboration.