James Turrell

(American, born 1943)

James Turrell is an American artist known for his large-scale, immersive light installations. Interested in all aspects of human perception, among the most famous and ambitious of Turrell’s works is Roden Crater (1977–present), an ongoing project of transforming a natural Arizona crater into a naked-eye observatory. “My work is about your seeing,” he once explained. “There is a rich tradition in painting of work about light, but it is not light—it is the record of seeing. My material is light, and it is responsive to your seeing.” Born on May 6, 1943, in Los Angeles, CA to Quaker parents, he graduated from Pomona College in 1965 with a degree in perceptual psychology. While enrolled in the graduate studio art program at the University of California, he began experimenting with light installations. While at school his peers included Robert Irwin, Mary Corse, and Doug Wheeler—together, they became known as the Light and Space Group. Turrell’s accolades include a 1974 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 1984 MacArthur Grant, and the National Medal of Arts in 2013. To date, over 82 of the artist’s Skyspaces have been installed. Turrell currently lives and works in Flagstaff, AZ. His works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among others.