‘James Turrell’ installed at Pace Gallery, 6 Burlington Gardens, London. From left: Sagittarius (2019); Cassiopeia (2019); Pegasus (2019). Photograph by Damian Griffiths
James Turrell’s practice has long centred around the manipulation of light and space. His works are designed to provide atmospheres for contemplative thought. These might be rooms filled with colourful light, an aperture in the ceiling open to the sky, or focused points of perception such as his Constellation works that were on display at Pace Gallery’s Burlington Arcade space before its forced closure and which are now viewable digitally.
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To say Turrell’s work has less impact viewed through a computer screen would be a huge understatement. The power of the seemingly floating orbs of light that feature in this latest exhibition lies in their scale, in the opportunity that they provide to sit amidst crowds of people and loose yourself within expanding colour. Cassiopeia (2019), James Turrell at Pace Gallery, London. Photograph by Damian Griffiths
The real-life works are created to prompt a transcendental kind of experience in which the viewer is no longer distanced from the light but within it. It’s an effect that Turrell has mastered over the years through a continued exploration of technological possibilities in relation to the sensorial realm; in these latest works, the shapes are created on a frosted glass surface animated by an...