James Turrell is a rare kind of visual artist. He works with light itself.
James Turrell, Gard Blue, 1968, Projection Piece — Photo by Florian Holzherr — Source:jamesturrell.com
Turrell has been exploring the wonders of light, space and visual perception since the 1960s and in the process has become the American master of light and color installations.
James Turrell, Breathing Light (Ganzfeld), 2013, Los Angeles County Museum of Art — Photo by Florian Holzherr — Source: jamesturrell.com
Among his stunning creations is the Ganzfeld series, in which rooms are transformed into endless color fields. In these spaces, distances and bearings disappear, giving you the impression that you are simply floating in pure color.
James Turrell, Dhatu (Ganzfeld), 2009 – 2010, Gagosian Gallery, London — Photos by Florian Holzherr — Source: jamesturrell.com
James Turrell, Amrta (Ganzfeld), 2011, Jarna — Photo by Florian Holzherr — Source:jamesturrell.com
James Turrell, Akhob (Ganzfeld), 2013, installed at Louis Vuitton at CityCenter, Las Vegas — Photos by Florian Holzherr — Source: jamesturrell.com
One of the largest spaces Turrell has transformed is the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. It usually looks like this:
James Turrell’s installation transformed it into this:
James Turrell, Aten Reign, 2013, Guggenheim Museum, New York — Photos by Florian Holzherr — Source: guggenheim.org
James Turrell, Aten Reign, 2013, Guggenheim Museum, New York — Photo by David Heald — Source: guggenheim.org
Using artificial light with a touch of natural light, Aten Reign is a kind of super-sized version of James Turrell’s most celebrated work, his series of Skyspaces, which frame the sky with light.
Who said installation art couldn’t be dazzling?
