James Turrell

Key facts

Born

1943, American

Movements

• Light Art
• Land Art

Works held in

5 museums

Plan your visit to see James Turrell →

• What is James Turrell known for?+

  James Turrell is known for transforming the Roden Crater, an extinct volcano in Arizona, into a monumental artwork. He is also known for inviting viewers to engage directly with light as a tangible presence.
• What is James Turrell's most famous work?+

  James Turrell is best known for his large-scale installation works using light and space. Since the late 1960s, Turrell has created light tunnels, light projections (creating shapes that seem to have mass), and skyspaces (enclosed spaces open to the sky). About 100 of his skyspaces have been constructed across the world. His works have been described by critic Peter Schjeldahl as "sublime spatial illusions". Turrell's grandest project is Roden Crater, near Flagstaff, Arizona. It is an open-air observatory, still under construction. Turrell aims to bring celestial objects, such as the sun and moon, into human-made spaces. He wants to heighten our sense of interrelatedness with the cosmos by bringing it down to the scale of rooms. As Turrell explains, "I want this universe that we are in to become part of our personal space, part of our lived-in territory. I’m looking for a grandeur that does not belittle you."
• What should I know about James Turrell's prints?+

  James Turrell is best known for his work with light and space, and his prints extend these explorations onto paper. While not as widely discussed as his installations, they offer insight into his artistic concerns. Turrell's prints often utilise geometric forms and subtle gradations of colour to create illusions of depth and light. These works relate to his interest in perception and how viewers experience space. Some prints are closely linked to specific installations or Skyspaces, acting as studies or extensions of those projects. He has worked with various printmaking techniques, including etching, aquatint, and lithography. These methods allow him to achieve the delicate tonal variations that are characteristic of his style. His print "Horse Blinders (east)", 1972, is a colour lithograph and screenprint with metallic paper. It was printed at Styria Studio, New York, and published by Multiples, Inc., and Castelli Graphics, New York, in an edition of 85.
• What style or movement did James Turrell belong to?+

  James Turrell is associated with the Light and Space movement, which emerged in California in the 1960s. This movement focused on perceptual experiences of space and light, often through large-scale installations. Turrell's work shares some common ground with Minimalism, particularly in its emphasis on simplicity and reduction. However, unlike some Minimalist artists, Turrell aims to create immersive environments that evoke sensory and spiritual experiences. He admires the "emotional freedom of Rothko" and "the strict approach to the sublime" found in the work of Ad Reinhardt. His installations often involve enclosed spaces (skyspaces) open to the sky, light tunnels, and projections that create illusions of mass and weight. One of his most ambitious projects is Roden Crater, an open-air observatory in Arizona. Some critics have described Turrell's works as "sublime spatial illusions" that invite viewers to contemplate light and space.
• What techniques or materials did James Turrell use?+

  James Turrell is known for his installations using light and space. Since the late 1960s, Turrell has worked with light to create the perception of volume. His practice coincided with the dematerialisation of the art object movement. He admires Mark Rothko's emotional freedom and Ad Reinhardt's strict approach to the sublime. He also appreciates Barnett Newman, who, like Monet, confronted the viewer by filling their field of vision with huge paintings. Turrell's works include skyspaces (enclosed spaces open to the sky), light tunnels, and light projections. These projections create shapes that appear to have mass. One of his most significant projects is Roden Crater, near Flagstaff, Arizona, an open-air observatory. By 2013, he had built around 100 skyspaces around the world. His work has been described as sublime spatial illusions.
• What was James Turrell known for?+

  James Turrell is an American artist known for his light and space installations. Since the late 1960s, Turrell has created works that manipulate light to alter a viewer's perception of space. His installations include skyspaces (enclosed rooms open to the sky via an aperture), light tunnels, and light projections. These works often create the effect of a uniform field of light, lacking a point of focus or depth. Turrell describes this as creating a "ganzfeld" effect. One of his most ambitious projects is Roden Crater, near Flagstaff, Arizona, an open-air observatory. Turrell's work explores the "thingness of light", and how light can be shaped as a sculptural material. His installations create spatial ambiguities and optical illusions. His pieces have been described as sublime spatial illusions. In 1984, Turrell received a MacArthur Fellowship.
• When did James Turrell live and work?+

  James Turrell was born in Los Angeles, California, on 6 May 1943. His father, an aeronautical engineer, and his mother, a physician, were Quakers. Turrell studied perceptual psychology at Pomona College, graduating in 1965. His interest in perception, light, and space developed during this time. He then pursued an MFA at the University of California, Irvine, from 1966 to 1969. Turrell's early work involved projecting light onto walls and into corners, creating illusions of solid forms. In the late 1960s, he began a series of "Skyspaces": enclosed spaces with an aperture in the ceiling open to the sky. These installations alter the viewer's perception of colour and form. His best-known project is Roden Crater, an extinct volcano in Arizona that he has been transforming into a large-scale artwork since 1974. This project aims to create a space for experiencing celestial phenomena. Turrell continues to work on Roden Crater, as well as creating Skyspaces and other light installations around the world.
• Where can I see James Turrell's work?+

  James Turrell's work has been featured in many museums and galleries. These include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Other American museums that have displayed his art are the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, and the University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson. Turrell's art has also travelled extensively. For example, his work was included in the 1980 show *Earthworks: Land Reclamation as Sculpture*, which travelled to San Jose, Santa Barbara, Phoenix, Amarillo, Tyler, Winnipeg, Iowa City, Brookings, Springfield, Normal, Louisville, and Toledo. His pieces were also part of a United States Pavilion exhibit at the Biennale of Venice, which later travelled to Copenhagen, Oslo, Madrid, and Lisbon.
• Where was James Turrell from?+

  James Turrell was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1943. Later in life, Turrell referred to himself as an 'un-lapsed Quaker'. In 2000, he designed a Quaker Meeting House in Houston. He studied art, and he observed that he missed the luminous quality he had experienced when paintings were projected onto a screen. He admires 'the emotional freedom of Rothko' and 'the strict approach to the sublime that Ad Reinhardt’s work has'. Turrell also appreciates Barnett Newman, because 'like Monet, he would actually confront you by filling your field of vision with huge paintings.' Turrell was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1984; he was the first visual artist selected. Since the late 1960s, he has created light-and-space installation works: skyspaces (an enclosed room open to the sky); light tunnels; light projections; and Roden Crater, near Flagstaff, Arizona, an open-air observatory.
• Who did James Turrell influence?+

  James Turrell has influenced a number of contemporary artists working with light and space. His work fits into the 'Dematerialization of the Art Object' movement. This approach involves creating a 'ganzfeld' effect, which is the perception of a uniform field of light lacking a point of focus or depth. Since the late 1960s, Turrell has made light-and-space installations; these include skyspaces (enclosed spaces open to the sky via an aperture), light tunnels, and light projections. His largest project is Roden Crater, an open-air observatory near Flagstaff, Arizona. Turrell has expressed admiration for Mark Rothko's 'emotional freedom' and Ad Reinhardt's 'strict approach to the sublime'. He also appreciates Barnett Newman's large-scale works that fill the viewer's field of vision, similar to Claude Monet's paintings. Critics have noted that experiencing a Turrell installation can be perceptually thrilling and mystically resonant, evoking a sense of looking into a divine light.
• Who influenced James Turrell?+

  James Turrell has cited several artists as influences, including Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, Barnett Newman and Claude Monet. He admires Rothko's 'emotional freedom' and Reinhardt's 'strict approach to the sublime'. He also appreciates Newman, because, like Monet, he would 'confront you by filling your field of vision with huge paintings'. Turrell's interest in the dematerialisation of the art object movement also had an impact on his practice. This interest aligned with his desire to create a 'ganzfeld' effect, which is the perception of a uniform field of light lacking both a point of focus and depth. This led him to create light-and-space installation works, such as skyspaces, light tunnels, and his large-scale project, Roden Crater, near Flagstaff, Arizona.
• Who was James Turrell?+

  James Turrell is an American artist known for his work with light and space. He studied art, and was interested in the qualities of light he saw when paintings were projected in class. He admires Mark Rothko's emotional freedom, Ad Reinhardt's strict approach to the sublime, and Barnett Newman's large-scale works that fill the viewer's field of vision. Turrell has described himself as an 'un-lapsed Quaker' since 2000, when he designed a Quaker Meeting House in Houston. He feels that art can gesture toward the spiritual, and is interested 'in the light within, in the sense that there’s a vision that is fully formed when our eyes are closed.' Since the late 1960s, Turrell has been creating light-and-space installations, including skyspaces (enclosed spaces open to the sky), light tunnels, and light projections. His largest project is Roden Crater, near Flagstaff, Arizona, an open-air observatory. About 100 of his skyspaces have been constructed worldwide, and his works have been featured in art museums internationally. Turrell received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1984; he was the first visual artist selected.