Bloom of Joy

James Turrell (b. 1943, Los Angeles, California), a leading figure of the Light and Space movement, has long devoted himself to the exploration of the art of perception with a special focus on the materiality of light. Influenced by the notion of pure feeling in pictorial art, Turrell’s earliest work focused on the dialectic between constructing light and painting with light, building on the sensorial experience of space, color, and perception; these interactions became the foundation for Turrell’s oeuvre. Presented as site-specific pieces, the two recent works by Turrell in the exhibition are composed of rectangular shapes with a frosted glass surface animated by an array of technically advanced LED lights which are wall mounted and generated by computer programming. The light changes are subtle and hypnotic, one color morphing into the next seamlessly. The program runs on a loop that is imperceptible to the viewer, prompting a transcendental experience. This wall-cavity filled with color advances the lineage of abstract art, particularly calling to mind Mark Rothko’s Color Field paintings which for Turrell “brought color out of darkness.” In implicating the viewer in the temporal experience of color within the physical and perceptual experience, Turrell turns light into a powerful substance.

Other highlights of the show include works by Light and Space artist, Peter Alexander (b. 1939, Los Angeles, California; d. 2020, Santa Monica, California), featuring a cast urethane sculpture that refracts light rather than emits it; the work’s effect is equally phenomenological, resisting verbal description through a singular and beguiling visual presence. Butter Your Grits (Don't That Just?), an installation by Alexander created this year characteristically arrests and cradles light within its nebulous interiors re-emitting it in a mirage-like emanation. In juxtaposition, a set of five relief prints made with glass microspheres by Mary Corse (b. 1945, Berkeley, California) will be presented. Known for her signature Band paintings, these works further emphasize the abstract nature of human perception for audiences to contemplate.