b. 1943

 

James Turrell’s work involves explorations in light and space that speak to viewers without words, impacting the eye, body, and mind with the force of a spiritual awakening. “I want to create an atmosphere that can be consciously plumbed with seeing,” says the artist, “like the wordless thought that comes from looking in a fire.” Informed by his studies in perceptual psychology and optical illusions, Turrell’s work allows us to see ourselves “seeing.” Whether harnessing the light at sunset or transforming the glow of a television set into a fluctuating portal, Turrell’s art places viewers in a realm of pure experience. Situated near the Grand Canyon and Arizona’s Painted Desert is Roden Crater, an extinct volcano the artist has been transforming into a celestial observatory for the past thirty years. Working with cosmological phenomena that have interested man since the dawn of civilization and have prompted responses such as Stonehenge and the Mayan calendar, Turrell’s crater brings the heavens down to earth, linking the actions of people with the movements of planets and distant galaxies. His fascination with the phenomena of light is ultimately connected to a very personal, inward search for mankind’s place in the universe. The recipient of several prestigious awards such as Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships, Turrell lives in Arizona.

 

 

Solo Exhibitions

2011

James Turrell: Present Tense, Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Santa Monica

Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow

2010

Gagosian Gallery, London

Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels

James Turrell: The Wolfsburg Project, Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg

2009

James Turrell: The Roden Crater: Sculpture and Photographs, Häusler Contemporary, Munich

James Turrell: Geometry of Light, Zentrum für Internationale Lichtkunst, Unna

James Turrell: Large Holograms, PaceWildenstein, New York

2008

James Turrell: Light Works 2002–2007, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen

Pomona College Museum of Art, Claremont

2007

James Turrell: The Tall Glass, Häusler Contemporary, Zurich

James Turrell: Light Leadings, PaceWildenstein, New York

James Turrell: Orca Blue, Albion Gallery, London

James Turrell: A Life in Light, Louise T Blouin Institute, London

2006

James Turrell: Alta White, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

James Turrell: New Work, Griffin, Santa Monica

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Underground Gallery, Wakefield

2005

James Turrell: Transformative Space, Alan Koppel Gallery

James Turrell: Light Projections 1968 and Light Works 2005, PaceWildenstein, New York

James Turrell: Early Light Works, Griffin Contemporary, Santa Monica

2004

Galerie Almine Rech, Paris

James Turrell: New Holograms, Baldwin Gallery, Aspen

PaceWildenstein, New York

James Turrell: Light and Land, Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa

James Turrell: Projection Works 1967–69, Albion, London

2003

James Turrell: The Light Within, Haines Gallery, San Francisco

James Turrell: Skyspace and New Work, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle

James Turrell: Into the Light, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh

2002

Michael Hue-Williams Fine Art, London

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Galerie Almine Rech, Paris

Hausler Kulturemanagement, Munich

Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich

2001

Harley Baldwin Gallery, Aspen

Galerie Valentina Moncada, Rome

2000

Galerie Valentina Moncada, Rome

James Turrell: Hi Test, Gallerie Almine Rech, Paris

James Turrell: Cross Cut, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

1999

James Turrell: Elliptic Ecliptic, Penzance, Cornwall

James Turrell: The Other Horizon, MAK, Vienna

Center for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw

Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach

1998

James Turrell: Lapsed Quaker Ware, AD Gallery, New York

Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York

Museet for Samtidskunst, Oslo

Michael Hue-Williams Fine Art, London

James Turrell: Between Blue, Stark Gallery, New York

1996

Stroom, The Hague

Michael Hue-Williams Fine Art, London

James Turrell: Drawings, Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston

1995

James Turrell: To Be Sung, The Marstall, (ATEM), Munich

Portside Gallery, Yokohama

James Turrell, Fia Art Network, Index Gallery, Osaka

Städtische Galerie, Goppingen

1994

Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York

James Turrell: Roden Crater: Realizing a Vision, Lisa Sette Gallery, Phoenix

Galerie Froment & Putman, Paris

Magasin 3, Stockholm

Aspen Art Center, Colorado

1993

Ace Gallery, Los Angeles

Hayward Gallery, London

Anthony D’Offay Gallery, London

Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia

Knoedler Gallery, New York

1992

Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon

Isy Brachot Gallery, Brussels

Gallery Cora Holzl, Dusseldorf

James Turrell: Perceptual Cells, Kunstverein Düsseldorf

Sprengel Museum, Hanover

Stroom, The Hague

Fundacio Espai Poblenou, Barcelona

Turske Hue-Williams Gallery, London

Confort Moderne, Poitiers

Fuel Gallery, Seattle

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Centro Cultural Arte Contemperaneo, Mexico City

1991

James Turrell: First Light, Hiram Butler Gallery

Carpenter Center, Harvard University, Cambridge

Anthony d’Offay Gallery, London

Turske & Turske, Zurich

James Turrell, Change of State, Friedman Guinness Gallery, Frankfurt

Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale

Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana

Galerie Froment & Putman, Paris

James Turrell: First Light, Kunstmuseum, Bern

1990

James Turrell: Three Installations, Boulder Art Center, Boulder

P.S. 1, Long Island City

Stein-Gladstone Gallery, New York

James Turrell: Twenty Etchings, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Stuart Regan Gallery, Los Angeles

1989

Security Pacific Gallery, Costa Mesa

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes

1988

Roger Ramsay Gallery, Chicago

Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe

Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff

Jean Bernier Gallery, Athens

1987

Yvon Lambert Galerie, Paris

Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona

Kunstahalle, Basel

1986

Marian Goodman Gallery, New York

Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe

James Turrell: Occluded Front, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

1985

Marian Goodman Gallery, New York

Roger Ramsay Gallery, Chicago

Karl Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica, California

Bernard Jacobson Gallery, Los Angeles

1984

Marian Locks Gallery, Philadelphia

James Turrell: Light Spaces, Capp Street Project, San Francisco

Flow Ace Gallery, Los Angeles

1983

Flow Ace Gallery, Venice

Hayden Gallery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston

James Turrell: Two Spaces, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

1982

James Turrell: Four Light Installations. Center for Contemporary Art, Seattle

1981

Portland Center for Visual Arts, Portland

Leo Castelli Gallery, New York

1980

University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1977

Heiner Friedrich Gallery, Cologne

1976

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

1970

Main and Hill Studio, Santa Monica

1968

Aimery Langois-Meurine, Geneva

James Turrell: Light Projections, Main and Hill Studio, Mendota Hotel, Santa Monica

1967

James Turrell, Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena

 

Group Exhibitions

2011

Phenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego

Exhibition of Work by Newly Elected Members and Recipients of Honors and Awards, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York

See! Colour!, Kulturhuset, Järna

Malevich and the American Legacy, Gagosian Gallery, New York

Suprasensorial: Experiments in Light, Color and Space, The Geffen

Contemporary at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

2010

50 Years at Pace, The Pace Gallery, New York

Wall Installations, William Griffin Gallery, Santa Monica

Wall and Floor, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris

Primary Atmospheres: Works from California 1960–1970, David Zwirner, New York

2009

The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860–1989, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

West Coast Minimalism, Foundation 20 21/Nyehaus, New York

Color into Light: Selections from the MFAH Collection, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Full House: The Kouri Collection and American Minimalist Adventures, Kiasma Art Museum, Helsinki

2008

Summer Exhibition: Peter Wegner, James Turrell, Keith Sonnier, Griffin, Santa Monica

Collecting Collections: Highlights of the Permanent Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

SoCal: Southern California Art of the 1960s and 70s from LACMA’s Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles

2007

Carl Andre, Mark Grotjahn, John McCracken, James Turrell, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris

Artempo: Where Time Becomes Art, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice

Light Time and Three Dimensions, PaceWildenstein, New York

To Be Continued–Art Created for Magasin 3, Stockholm

Super Vision, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

2006

Los Angeles 1955–1985: Naissance d’Une Capitale Artistique, Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris

Invisible Might: Works from 1965 to 1971, Nyehaus, New York

Cosmic Wonder, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

Take Two-Worlds and Views: Contemporary Art from the Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

2005

Sets, Series, and Suites: Contemporary Prints, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Design Is Not Art: Functional Objects From Donald Judd to Rachel Whiteread, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York

2004

Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated): Art from 1951 to the Present, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

James Turrell + Hedi Slimane, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris

2002

CAT—Heaven’s Gift, VITRA Design Museum, Berlin

Vertu Event (previously known as Nokia), Guggenheim Soho, New York

Moon and Architecture, INAX Gallery 1, Tokyo

Devices of Wonder, The Getty Museum, Los Angeles

2001

Collaborations with Parkett: 1984 to Now, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

On the Sublime: Mark Rothko, Yves Klein, James Turrell, Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin

Open Ends, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Art Light, Galerie Beyeler, Basel

Changing Perceptions: The Panza Collection at the Guggenheim Museum, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

2000

Regarding Beauty, Haus der Kunst, Munich

Inventional, Angles Gallery, Santa Monica

Dream Machines, Camden Arts Centre, London

Waxing Poetic: Encaustic Art in America, Knoxville Museum of Art, Kentucky

The American Century: Art and Culture 1900-2000 (Part II), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Eclipse, Michael Hue-Williams Fine Art, London

1999

Re-Structure, Grinnell College Art Gallery, Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, Iowa

1998

Another Arizona: A State-Wide Juried Exhibition, Arizona State University, Tempe

Sunshine & Noir, Art in Los Angeles 1960-1997, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk

1997

Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York

The Age of Modernism, Art in the 20th Century, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin

Lux Lumen, La Fundació Joan Miro, Barcelona

Maps, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York

1996

10 Year Anniversary. Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale

Galerie Michele Chomette, Paris

Elsewhere, Galerie Froment and Putman, Paris

The Incident II, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London

Northern Lights, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

1995

Foundation Cartier; a Collection, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Contemporary Drawing: Exploring the Territory, Aspen Art Museum, Colorado

After Art: Rethinking 150 Years of Photography, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle

10 Years Parkett 63 Artists’ Editions, New York

Sculpture, Anthony d’Offay Gallery, London

1994

Percept/Image/Object, The Lannan Foundation, Los Angeles

Landscape as Metaphor, Visions of America in the Late 20th Century, Denver Art Museum, Denver

Gemini Editions Limited Collection, Recent Prints and Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Painting and Sculpture: Recent Acquisitions, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Prints of Darkness, Straus Gallery, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge

1993

Mediale, Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Amerikanische Kunst Im 20 Jahrhundert, Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin

Differentes Natures, La Defense, Paris

American Art of the 20th Century, Royal Academy of Art, London

1992

Gallery Froment & Putman, Paris

Stein Gladstone, New York

Geneve Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva

1991

Dalsheimer Gallery, Baltimore

Galerie Cora Holzl, Dusseldorf

Whitney Museum at Equitable Center, New York

Turske & Turske, Zurich

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

1990

Karl Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica

Espace Electra, Paris

Turske & Turske, Zurich

1989

The Innovators / Entering the Sculpture, Ace, Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles

Departures: Photography 1924–1989, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York

Peter Blum Edition, Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York

The 1980’s: Prints from the Collection of Joshua P. Smith, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

1988

Pomona College Alumni Exhibition, Montgomery Gallery, Claremont

New Sculpture/Six Artists, Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri

Viewpoints, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

1987

Public and Private: American Prints Today, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

Skyspace I, Arte Ambientale, Rimini

70’s into 80’s: Printmaking Now, Museum of Fine Arts, The Lois and Michael Torf Gallery, Boston

Burnett Miller Gallery, Los Angeles

Public and Private: American Prints Today, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

A Southern California Collection, Cirrus, Los Angeles

Individuals: A Selected History of Contemporary Art, 1945–1986, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

1986

Amerikanische Zeichnungen 1930-1980, The Menil Collection, Stadelsches

Kunstinstitute und Stadtische Galerie, Frankfurt

1985

Cucchi-Fischl-Kruger-Stalder-Turrell, Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York

Severe Clear, Radcliff Dance Studio, Radcliff College, Cambridge

1984

Projects: World Fairs, Waterfronts, Parks and Plazas, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago

The Interactive Arts: Art & Architecture, Welton Becket Associates, Santa Monica

1983

ARS, 1983: Fine Arts Academy of Finland, Art Museum of the Ateneum, Helsinki

1982

Selections from the Chase Manhattan Bank Art Collection, David Wintonn Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence

Drawing Distinctions, American Drawings of the Seventies, Stadtisch Galerie Im Lembachhaus, Munich

1980

An Invitational Drawing and Watercolor Exhibition, Los Angeles County Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park

1979

California Perceptions: Light and Space, Selections from the Wortz Collection, Visual Arts Center, California State University, Fullerton

1973

3D Into 2D: Drawing for Sculpture, The New York Cultural Center, New York

1969

Art and Technology Show, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968–1969, Los Angeles

1968

Art and Technology, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles