Light Installations by James Turrell
A MacArthur Fellow in 1984, James Turrell is an American artist primarily concered with light and space. He received his BA degree from Pomona College in the field of perceptual psychology.in 1965 and also studied mathematics, geology and astronomy at Pomona College. He began making artwork using light projection while enrolled in the graduate Studio Art program at the University of California, Irvine in 1966. Later in 1973 he received an MA degree in art from Claremont Graduate University and an honorary doctorate in 2004 by Haverford College.
Turrell is also known for his light tunnels and light projections that create shapes that seem to have mass and weight, though they are created with only light. Turrell’s 1968 projection of a suspended luminous pink pyramid, Raethro Pink, was acquired by the Welsh National Museum of Art. His work “Acton” is a very popular exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It consists of a room that appears to have a blank canvas on display, but the “canvas” is actually a rectangular hole in the wall, lit to look otherwise.
“I had an interest in art, but my first interest was in light. I was fascinated by light.”
-James Turrell