Veils

James Turrell is an installation artist who, in recent years, has developed a style that celebrates light in spaces. Turrell’s installations are often minimal, using lights in single saturated colours or complimentary colour combinations to create different moods and feelings within a space.

While the artist equally favors bright, neon colours and natural lighting, I really enjoy the works where Turrell enhances the qualities of light within a space. The above work, Veils, uses a combination of natural and artificial light to create sheets of pure, neutral light that appear to move across the space. While the movements of the light in the work are not tethered to conditions outside, it’s easy to believe that the light is streaming in through a well-designed skylight.

The Light Inside

Other works of Turrells become more like tangible objects, lit geometric shapes that exist on walls in darkened gallery spaces, and take on an iconographic appearance. Turrell is currently working on a large-scale immersive installation which will be housed inside a volcanic crater. 

Breathing Light