It has almost been a month since passing of Robert Wilson, an American experimental theater director, playwright, choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, visual artist, and lighting designer. This is a very big figure in the art world – among and beyond genres and traditions.

Born in 1941, he grew up in a conservative family in Texas: “When I was growing up, it was a sin to go to the theater. It was a sin if a woman wore pants.”

In 1963, Robert Wilson moved to New York City to study architecture and interior design at the Pratt Institute. While a student, he also worked as a therapist for brain-injured and disabled children, an experience that influenced his later experimental theater work.

From the 1960s till 2025, Bob Wilson has directed a vast number of theatrical works and opera productions. Along with that, he had been creating sculpture, drawings, and furniture designs.

In 1992, Robert Wilson founded The Watermill Center – a laboratory for the arts and humanities. The Center became a safe and sacred space for multidisciplinary talents, including musicians, dancers, painters and sculptors, mixed media and performance artists.

Every year, anyone, for free, could visit the Watermill Center on Long Island to enjoy art created by the artists in residence. Personally, I tried not to miss his opera rehearsals – during those few hours, Bob Wilson would explain his vision for the future production that was being born in front of my eyes.

It’s hard to underestimate what Robert ‘Bob’ Wilson did for the arts and artists. Here’s a few quotes by Bob – food for thought and inspiration:

“Counterpoint is difficult. I have been doing it since the beginning of my career. But it is not just taking any opposite. It is finding the right opposite.”

“The reason you work as an artist is to stay open and ask questions.”

“By giving the leadership to the private sector in a capitalistic society, we’re going to measure the value of art by how many products we can sell.”

“My tax dollar, which goes to New York State Council on the Arts, is by and large only spent to fund people from the state of New York! And you want to be the cultural capital of the world?”

“Sometimes, when we’re very, very still, we’re more aware of movement than when we make a lot of movement outwardly.”

“Increasingly, I find myself drawn to classic forms – to Euripides, Shakespeare and grand opera.”

“My method is much like choreography. I don’t sit at a table. I work in a room with people.”

“If we lose our culture, we lose our memory.”

“One of the few things that will remain of this time is what artists are doing. They are the journal and the diary of our time.”

“My work has always dealt with a kind of space that allows one to daydream.”

I believe that Bob Wilson will keep inspiring those artists who can squeeze themselves into a certain genre, who go beyond norms, challenge traditional approaches, and keep surprising public and themselves. || Natalie Burlutskaya, Curator, Arts Manager