Many of his Skyspaces are made for private individuals, but there are several of his public works in Southern California – and you can bet they’re on our summer itinerary. But it produces a beautiful, and different result, than the dry skies of Arizona or these soft California hues. Turrell talks about the difference between light in different cities – he recently put a Skyspace in Beijing and says you can “eat that air with a fork,” because of the layers of pollution. Sometimes pink, sometimes blue and (probably many other colors as well). Visitors don booties and are admitted in small groups to a large glowing space. The biggest space to enter is pictured above and is titled ganzfeld. In some rooms, one encounters neon walls, bright colors that project a beckoning hum. ![]() Coming out of the room afterwards, you can’t believe that you couldn’t see the walls upon entrance only a few moments earlier. The sense of comfort lends itself to spiritual feelings of connection – after all, your eye is not being tricked so much as you are seeing something that has been there all along, but has simply not been perceptible. And it’s only light, which is what art has been about from the beginning. It’s friendly and easy to adore, this work. It’s a strangely comforting experience, as if the light is finally embracing you. In other rooms, visitors enter in pitch blackness and stand patiently until a glow of light gradually appears. Is the neon triangle really a pyramid? Does the cube recede into the corner or pop out again towards the viewer? It’s gratifying to walk around the space, changing one’s perception on the work and sensing our brain adjusting to the shifting ‘reality’. By staring at these images for several moments, one’s perception shifts. Most of the second floor of BCAM is taken up with large rooms that hold a single Turrell piece – perhaps a blue, neon triangle hovering from one side of a clean gallery, or a white cube nestled into the corner - this is Afrum (White). The 70 year-old artist works with light and sky, playing with the biology of vision and coaxing our eyes and brains into seeing something that we didn’t know existed. James Turrell: A Retrospective revels in the pure sensation and joy of Turrell’s work over the past 50 years. The most exciting exhibit of the year opens at LACMA on Sunday, just in time for summer exploration.
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