James Turrell
Small Elliptical Glass «First Cause», 2024

Opening: from June 7, 2024

Special Opening Hours Zurich Art Weekend 2024:
Friday, June 7, 10 – 8 pm
Saturday, June 8, 10 – 6 pm

In 2018, Häusler Contemporary presented the new work type «Elliptical Glass» by James Turrell in the gallery for the first time ever. We are therefore all the more delighted to be presenting a new work from this series in our gallery this year, continuing our long-standing and unique collaboration with the artist. 

This atmospheric architectural intervention, which also works in everyday spatial conditions, appears as an oval, colored luminous plane in the wall – at once seemingly dense and permeable. In a course precisely programmed by the artist, the colorfulness of the lighting slowly changes from the center. This subtle dynamic creates a captivating pull for the observing eye, which soon loses itself between a supposedly infinite depth and the incomprehensible flatness, leading to a slow dissolution of the boundaries of the surrounding space. As in James Turrell's highly acclaimed, expansive installations, the usual understanding of light and space is put to test and the observer is led to the borderlines of perception. Turrell also refers to this direct confrontation with light as «the physical manifestation of light».

With his «Elliptical Glass Series», James Turrell delves into the creation of a groundbreaking body of work that offers a visual and sensory experience of light in a conventional architectural context. These works represent a pinnacle of innovation, harnessing the latest LED technology to craft meticulously programmed experiences that were previously only achievable in larger installations by the artist. 

James Turrell (*1943 in Los Angeles) is one of the most renowned artists on the international art scene. For 40 years, he has dedicated his work to experimenting with natural and artificial light. In his installations, he uses light and luminous surfaces as visual material in their own right. Turrell explains: «I like working with light and using it in a way that one physically feels how the presence of light occupies a space. I want to use sunlight, moonlight and starlight to give a work of art more power.» 

James Turrell (1943 born in Los Angeles, CA, US lives and works in Flagstaf, Arizona, US)

Exhibitions (Selection) 
2024 Small Elliptical Glass «First Cause», Häusler Contemporary Zürich, CH*
2023 «Works 1984 – 2023», Häusler Contemporary Zürich, CH *
2022 «Aftershock», Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen, DK *
2021 James Turrell: Into the Light, MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts, US *
2020 «The Circular Glass», Häusler Contemporary Zürich, CH *
2019 «James Turrell: Passages of Light«, Museo Jumex, Ciudad de México, MX *
2018 «The Substance of Light», Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, DE *
«The Elliptical Glass», Häusler Contemporary Zürich, CH *
«Ganzfeld ‘Aural’», Jüdisches Museum, Berlin, DE *
2017 «James Turrell», MASS MoCA – Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA, US *
«Immersive Light», The Long Museum, Shanghai, CN *
2015 «LightScape: James Turrell at Houghton» Houghton Hall Norfolk, GB *
2014 «James Turrell: Light Spaces», The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, IL *
2013 «James Turrell», The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, US *
«James Turrell: The Light Inside», MFAH – The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, US *
«James Turrell. A Retrospective», LACMA – Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, US *
2012 «James Turrell: Agua De Luz», Cenote Santa Maria, Yucatan, MX *
2010 «The Wolfsburg Project», Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, DE *
2009 «The Roden Crater», Häusler Contemporary München, DE *

Projects