James Turrell. Recent Works

Pace London is honoured to present an exhibition of work by James Turrell from 7 February to 5 April 2014 at 6 Burlington Gardens. Turrell is among the most influential artists of the past fifty years and Pace is proud to continue its long commitment to the artist stretching back to 1967. This is the gallery’s sixth exhibition of his work following his unprecedented concurrent museum exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA, on view until 6 April 2014), and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

For over three decades, Turrell has used light and indeterminate space — not objects, nor images — to extend and enhance perception. Turrell’s inspiration draws from astronomy, physics, architecture and theology.

Turrell’s first solo exhibition at Pace London features two never-before-seen works from the Wide Glass series staged in site-designed chambers on the ground floor of the gallery. Works from this series were recently included in the LACMA’s exhibition. Each Wide Glass work is unique and features an aperture with a frosted and curved glass surface animated by an array of sophisticated LED lights. With these new works, Turrell continues his exploration of technological possibilities combined with sensory practices, and invites the viewer to a meditative experience.

“I am really interested in the qualities of one space sensing another. It is like looking at someone looking. Objectivity is gained by being once removed. As you plumb a space with vision, it is possible to ‘see yourself see’. This seeing, this plumbing, imbues space with consciousness.” James Turrell.

Also displayed in the exhibition are two works from the Tall Glass series: Sojourn (2006), presented in the downstairs gallery between the two Wide Glass works, and Sensing Thought (2005), upstairs. Each piece from this series is constructed to create a tangible and physical plane of light. The artist has likened the processional development of colours to a musical system utilising themes and gradient tones. The physical construction of these work srelates to the earlier series entitled Shallow Space Constructions from the late 1960s and early 1970s.