“Art is, for me, the process of trying to wake up the soul.” For Bill Viola sense perception is a channel to self-knowledge, a way to open audiences to the mystery of the inner self. How does he do it? His video installations, sound environments, and electronic-music performances draw from religion and mysticism, and target the transformative realms of birth and death, the flow of consciousness. For Viola’s first exhibition in Russia, 20 artworks created between 2000 and 2014 are on view. Included are Walking on the Edge and The Encounter, two video installations from his “Mirage” series. Contemplative journeys through female and male inner landscapes, both were filmed in California’s Mojave Desert. —E.C.