Present tense. Turrel uses halogen projectors to beams light across darkened rooms into corner spaces. From a distance the projected shapes appeared solid, but as viewers moved closer the forms revealed themselves to be nothing more than light cast against ordinary flat walls. Also included in the exhibition will be, Yukaloo, a new Wide Glass work.
Kayne Griffin Corcoran is pleased to announce its inaugural exhibition of
work by James Turrell. Kayne Griffin Corcoran is a new partnership between
Bill Griffin, James Corcoran, and Maggie Kayne.
In 1966, Turrell began experimenting with light in his Santa Monica
studio, the Mendota Hotel. By covering the windows and only allowing
prescribed amounts of light from the street outside to shine through the
openings, Turrell created his first light projections. Shortly thereafter,
he began using halogen projectors to beam light across darkened rooms into
corner spaces. From a distance the projected shapes appeared solid, but as
viewers moved closer the forms revealed themselves to be nothing more than
light cast against ordinary flat walls. Two Projections, Carn White (1967)
and Phantom Blue (1968), will be included in this exhibition.
In the main gallery, Present Tense, a Space Division Construction from
1991, will be on view. In this work, a room is divided into two spaces by a
partition wall. The space the viewer enters is lit by tungsten bulbs
shining directly onto the sidewalls, while fluorescent tubes fill the
partitioned space with colored light visible through a rectangular
aperture. In a sense this work reverses the illusion of the projection
works. Instead of a two-dimensional space alluding to three, the
partitioned three-dimensional space appears to be a flat shape from a
distance, but is perceived to diffuse into a three-dimensional "mist" when
approached by the viewer.
Also included in the exhibition will be, Yukaloo, a new Wide Glass work.
In these pieces, Turrell adds a temporal element to his perception-altering
oeuvre. Each piece consists of a grid of LEDs behind a pane of etched
glass. The LEDs are individually programmed to carry out a subtle shift in
color over time, similar to the deliberate but beautiful fashion in which
the sky changes from late afternoon to night.
James Turrell was born in 1943 in Los Angeles. Since his first solo
exhibitions at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1967 and the Stedelijk in 1976,
Turrell has been the subject of over 140 solo exhibitions worldwide. He
has received numerous awards in the arts, including The John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1984. He currently resides
in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Kayne Griffin Corcoran is a participating gallery of Pacific Standard
Time. Pacific Standard Time is an unprecedented collaboration of more than
sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together to
tell the story of the birth of the L.A. art scene. Initiated through grants
from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time will take place for six
months beginning October 2011. Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of
the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.
Opening reception:Thursday,September 15th from 6 to 9
pm
William Griffin Gallery
2902 Nebraska Avenue
Santa Monica