James Turrell (*1943 in Los Angeles) is one of the most renowned artists in the international art scene. For the past 50 years, he has devoted his work to experimenting with natural and artificial light. In his installations, he uses light and luminous areas as a visual material unto itself. Turrell states: "I like working with light and using it in a way that one physically feels how the presence of light occupies a space. I want to use sunlight, moonlight and starlight to give a work of art more power."

Turrell‘s light installations and environments turn light into an experience created out of artistic material; this is the main objective of the work. The rooms are not merely illuminated; they are defined by the light and its color and thus transform the medium in a new pictorial form. The installations show what makes Turrell a virtuoso in handling the laws of perception: architecture is almost dematerialized by the creative intervention of light. A simple corner of a room can become an arena show- casing the interplay between surface, color and space.

Since 1968, after receiving a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the artist has been awarded with over 20 distinctions, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (1984), an appointment as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government (1991), and the Nation Medal of Arts (2014).

Turrell’s works can be found in over 70 major international collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, the New York MoMA, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt am Main.

>> The Installation "Umbra, 2022"

>> Website of James Turrell