Depth Perception: James Turrell - Lévy Gorvy
  • James Turrell's Wedgework V, 1974

    JAMES TURRELL, Wedgework V, 1974, Fluorescent Light, fibre optic, Dimensions variable. © James Turrell.

Depth Perception: James TurrellExhibitions

New York
June 28 - August 17, 2018

Depth Perception: James Turrell

Light shapes experience. From Vermeer to the painters of the Hudson River School and pioneers of Minimalism, artists have tested its relationship to new perceptual depths. James Turrell began working with light in the 1960s with projections as part of the Southern California Light and Space movement. His work focuses the viewer on ways in which light connects internal experience with perception of the world beyond the confines of one’s own body.

Turrell’s 1974 installation Wedgework V is an uncanny room-spanning installation belonging to the artist’s landmark Wedgework series. Projected light creates an illusion of structure. Initiated in 1969, this body of work clarified the artist’s mission to display light in isolation, for its own sake: “I’m interested in the thingness of light itself,” he explained. Exemplifying this is the luminous optical sleight of Wedgework V. Red fluorescent light is paired with light-reflective paint to produce a vertiginous spatial effect wherein the gallery appears to expand beyond the logic of its architecture.

 


 

Depth Perception: James Turrell is part of Lévy Gorvy's SUMMER LIGHTS, the gallery's Summer 2018 program. Paired with Neon in Daylight: François Morellet, the two presentations celebrate the phenomena of light. Turrell and Morellet have each turned to light as a revelation in itself, rather than a source that illuminates another object. The gallery will feature seminal works by each artist—five late neon sculptures by Morellet and Turrell’s 1974 installation Wedgework V. Together, these installations invite visitors to engage issues of light and perception.

Learn more about Neon in Daylight: François Morellet

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Selected Works

  • James Turrell's installation view of Wedgework V, 1974

    JAMES TURRELL
    Installation view, Wedgework V, 1974
    Fluorescent light, fiber optic
    Dimensions variable
    © 2018 James Turrell
    Photo: Tom Powel

    Inquire
  • James Turrell's installation view of Wedgework V, 1974

    JAMES TURRELL
    Installation view, Wedgework V, 1974
    Fluorescent light, fiber optic
    Dimensions variable
    © 2018 James Turrell
    Photo: Tom Powel

    Inquire

Selected Press

Blouin Artinfo | Top New York Art Shows this Week: Tanya Aguiñiga to Fred Wilson

August 28, 2018

A loaded schedule of art events and exhibitions is scheduled in New York for the week of August 10-16, …

Surface Magazine | Weekend Cheat Sheet: August 13 - 19, 2018

August 13, 2018

Juergen Teller’s football fever, light and shadow at Lévy Gorvy, and more cultural intel to help you …

Blouin Artinfo | James Turrell's "Depth Perception" at Lévy Gorvy, New York

July 25, 2018

Artist James Turrell began working with light in the 1960s with projections as part of the Southern California …

Design Milk | 4 Stellar Artworks in NYC This Summer

July 18, 2018

Summer is the “off season” for the contemporary art world in New York – a time when galleries close …

Aesthetica | Spatial Expansion

July 5, 2018

James Turrell’s works create an illusion of structure through projected light. An installation at Lévy …

More Information