James Turrell: Split Decision

James Turrell has established an outstanding position within contemporary art with his artistic exploration of light, color, and space. With their roots in conceptual art, and in continuation of abstract painting, the light artist’s works are primarily oriented to the specific conditions of the site for which they were created. Depending on the location and the type of installation, the atmosphere of the sky, or differentiated artificial light in coordinated color scales, serve as the light source for his work. With elaborate architectonic and technical installations, he creates immersive rooms out of light in which his works draw us in corporeally, allowing us to physically bathe in them. Turrell annuls horizons and optical limits in his work in such a manner that spatial orientation is virtually disabled. For the Kunsthalle Mannheim, Turrell has adapted an earlier work created on-site, »Floating Window«, reconfiguring it to create a connection between the new building and the Jugendstil building in the form of a light room. In this atmospherically charged passage, wall-filling light sources on both sides illuminate the room in alternating color spectrums. Made possible by the Hector Foundation II Kunst gGmbH