James Turrell: The Light Inside, currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, explores the remarkable career of James Turrell (born 1943). Raised in a Quaker household and coming of age in the radical climate of the 1960s, Turrell has created some of the most beautiful art of our time, treating light as a material presence in perfectly calculated installations. Viewers are invited to investigate the margins of perception, to measure the passage of time, and鈥攊n the artist鈥檚 words鈥斺渢o enter the light.鈥
This exhibition features seven immersive light environments, ranging from Turrell鈥檚 first projections of the late 1960s to his most recent Tall Glass series of 2010鈥13, as well as three print portfolios and site plans relating to Roden Crater. All are from the collection of the , and most have been created for this exhibition. Also on view is , the Museum鈥檚 beloved light tunnel, commissioned by Isabel B. and Wallace S. Wilson to connect the Caroline Wiess Law Building with the Audrey Jones Beck Building.
James Turrell: The Light Inside is part of a nationwide celebration of Turrell鈥檚 work. It was conceived in conjunction with concurrent exhibitions on view this summer at the and the , New York. The appreciation of Turrell’s work in Houston extends from the MFAH to the artist鈥檚 two local Skyspaces: at the Live Oak Friends Meeting House in the Heights, and at Rice University in the Museum District.
James Turrell: The Light Inside, 9 June until 22 September, Museum of Fine Arts, 1001 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas 77005.
Credits:
1. James Turrell, The Light Inside, 1999, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum commission, gift of Isabel B. and Wallace S. Wilson. 漏 James Turrell
2. James Turrell, Aurora B: Tall Glass, 2010, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of the estate of Isabel B. Wilson in memory of Peter C. Marzio. 漏 James Turrell / Photograph by Thomas DuBrock
You can read the full feature on James Turrell in the August/September issue of Aesthetica out now
