
James Turrell is one of the world’s most highly regarded artists who uses light to create works of art. As a veteran pilot, he finds inspiration in the quality of light experienced from the sky. His personal interests in aviation, geometry and astronomy are evident in his work. Rooted in the traditions of his Quaker upbringing, Turrell invites visitors to “go inside and greet the light.”
Turrell’s most ambitious project is Roden Crater, an observatory created inside an extinct volcano in Arizona. The artist has two additional public Skyspaces in Texas, both located in Houston: Twilight Epiphany at Rice University and One Accord at Live Oaks Friends (Quaker) Meeting House.
Turrell’s work has been the subject of hundreds of exhibitions and he has received prestigious awards from the Guggenheim, Lannan, and MacArthur foundations. In 2013 he became the first artist to have three concurrent solo exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Guggenheim Museum, New York.
Learn more about the artist and The Color Inside by visiting the Landmarks website and by watching this short video.
James Turrell, Photo by Florian Holzherr. Detail of oculus, Photo by Paul Bardagjy.