James Turrell: A Retrospective

Artist James Turrell has spent his nearly 50-year career investigating light, shape, perception, and ways of bringing art into nature. One of his most well-known projects is the Roden Crater Project, a 40-year-old earthworks installation in the desert near Flagstaff, AZ. Produced in conjunction with a retrospective exhibit of the artist's work, this book by Govan (CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director) and Kim (associate curator, both Los Angeles County Museum of Art) explores Turrell's career, walking the reader through significant periods in his art and his artistic philosophy. The challenge of the title is that Turrell's work requires that people walk into its constructed spaces and experience the colors, the shapes, and a sensory reaction to light. The book, however, does an excellent job of translating the installations visually by including large full-page color images of the work and performances that may have accompanied them. The monograph's text is extensive and complements its images, allowing the reader to understand specific points of philosophy and changes to Turrell's work while viewing photographs that depict elements of the installations.