james turrell in pace gallery was one of the highlights of my recent london trip. which was actually just a speed race between galleries. i remember doing little else apart from chasing art. the contemporary kind, my favourite. london is full of world-class art galleries and i considered it would be a shame not to check them all out. this super-useful map helped me raise my count.
2013 was the james turrell year: 6 shows among which his big retrospectives in new york’s guggenheim and in la’s lacma. unfortunately, i haven’t seen any of his 2013 shows. the only turrell pieces i have ever seen were, years ago, in various places in japan. the especially-designed rooms in naoshima island’s chichu museum or the blue planet sky in kanazawa’s 21st century museum of contemporary art.
when i saw the pace gallery poster, my heart leapt. i just had to see it! click here to see the intro.
the show consists of four recent works: two tall glass and two wide glass. they all seemed inflatable screens hidden in the walls delivering changing colourful light, his specialty. the official description says wood, plexiglas volume, computerized neon setting.
please consider the fact that pictures cannot possibly do justice to this exhibition. for the full effect, you need to see it live.
to do that, you have to hurry up. the show runs until april the 5th, tuesday – saturday 10-18, at pace gallery. apparently, the show is accessible on mondays, by appointment only.
on a related note, i recommend the in-house atelier cafe. i had a great chicken salad and a wonderful rhubarb cake. perfect!
photo credits: little aesthete
3 comments
kala says:
Apr 3, 2014
Oh god, I love James Turrell!!! I do agree that photos can never do his work justice – we have to see it to believe it! Wish I could’ve seen this exhibit too.
little aesthete says:
Apr 3, 2014
i wish i could have seen his big retrospectives: i bet they were amazing! 🙂
TOP 10 LONDON ART GALLERIES - little aesthete's blog says:
Apr 14, 2014
[…] san diego, four in new york, one in beijing and two in london. i have recently written about their james turrell show. the pieces were focused, as turrell’s work is in general, on light and the extending and […]