James Turrell

James Turrell explores light as a subject, material, and medium of perception, along with its links to painting and sculpture. In his simple works, he gives light to its structure, highlighting the boundaries of vision while conveying transcendence and revelation. This fascination is tied to Turrell's search for humanity's place in the universe, rooted in his Quaker faith, described as a "straightforward, strict presentation of the sublime." 

Biography of James Turrell

Born in Los Angeles, Turrell grew up in Pasadena within a devoted Quaker family. His father, Archibald Milton Turrell, was an aeronautical engineer and educator, while his mother trained as a medical doctor and later served in the Peace Corps. Turrell acknowledged the challenge of navigating life as an artistic soul within such a family dynamic: "I come from a family that does not believe in art to this day. They think art is vanity."

However, certain relatives embraced different perspectives. Frances Hodges, one of his aunts, resided in Manhattan and worked for a fashion magazine. During visits with her, Turrell experienced various cultural events, from museums to concerts, broadening his engagement with modern life. During one of these visits, Turrell encountered the Museum of Modern Art, where he was introduced to the work of Thomas Wilfred, an early 20th-century artist who experimented with projected light.

In 1961, Turrell graduated from Pasadena High School and began studying math and perceptual psychology at Pomona College. Four years later, he earned a BA in Psychology. While his academic pursuits leaned toward science, his passion for art persisted. Following graduation, he enrolled in a graduate art program at the University of California, Irvine, though he only remained there for a year.

In 1966, Turrell faced legal trouble for advising young men on avoiding the Vietnam draft, leading to about a year of incarceration. Upon his release in 1967, he took up residence in a closed-down hotel in the Ocean Park area of Santa Monica. Turrell rounded out his artistic education by obtaining an MA in Art from Claremont Graduate School in 1973.

While Turrell had an initial interest in art, his primary fascination was with light. This fascination merged with the psychology of perception. Furthermore, he elevated his work to a new level by incorporating mathematics—specifically, Riemannian geometry (another area of Turrell's interest). 

James Turrell's "Roden Crater" Project

Over the past fifty years, the artist has gained international renown not only for his light projections and installations but particularly for his ongoing dedication to the" Roden Crater" project for more than three decades. 

The Roden Crater stands as James Turrell’s most significant and ambitious project. Situated in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona, this unparalleled large-scale artwork emerges from a volcanic cinder cone. It signifies the apex of the artist's lifelong exploration into human visual and psychological perception, providing a meticulously controlled environment for the observation and contemplation of light.

Serving as the magnum opus of Turrell's career, this masterpiece is intended as a portal to contemplate light, time, and landscape. It operates as an open-air observatory for both earthly and celestial phenomena, combining the predictable with the ever-changing. Engineered to endure for centuries, "Roden Crater" bridges the gap between the physical and the ephemeral, the objective and the subjective, offering a transformative sensory encounter.

Despite nearly four decades of dedicated work, the project remains unfinished and thus closed to the general public. Only those fortunate enough to receive special invitations from the artist can experience this masterpiece and fully comprehend the essence of James Turrell's art.