James Turrell x Lalique

Presentation: until May 3, 2024

We are delighted to present a special collaboration between James Turrell, one of the most renowned artists of our time, and Lalique, founded in 1888 by French glass artist René Lalique, at Häusler Contemporary Zurich. Between 2022 and 2023, a total of three limited editions were created with the artist. 

James Turrell's «Crystal Light», 2022 is a limited edition series of 42 crystal panels that is a fusion of Turrell's artistic vision and Lalique's expertise. The edition refers to «Aten Reign», which was on display in the incomparable exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2013.
The flacons «Range Rider» and «Purple Sage», 2022, reflect James Turrell's enduring fascination with the Egyptian pyramids, the stupa forms of Asian architecture and other monuments of spiritual value, where light is an integral part of the design. The crystal vessels, elaborately handcrafted by Lalique, are limited to 100 pieces each and, with their specially created fragrances, pay homage to the great American West, as James Turrell describes it.
«Eight Decades», 2023 is the third and most recent edition between the artist, Lalique and The Glenturret, created to celebrate his 80th birthday in 2023. Elaborately crafted from crystal glass with clear shapes according to Turrell's thoughtful specifications, the decanter contains exquisite whisky from the Glenturret Distillery, Scotland's oldest operating distillery, and is limited to 80 pieces.

In March 2024, James Turrell completed and inaugurated the Skyspace in the new building of the Zurich Children's Hospital. The artist also visited Häusler Contemporary and was delighted with the presentation of the Lalique editions. He spoke passionately about his thoughts on each edition and gave us a deep insight into his thought processes.

This three-stage collaboration began with the artist's design of 42 light panels named «Crystal Light», inspired by an image from James Turrell's installation Aten Reign, which was exhibited at the Guggenheim in 2013. The crystal design offers a hypnotic visual effect between the third and second dimension - similar to a trompe l'oeil - with mesmerising depth.

«The idea came of course from the Aten Reign installation. More precisely, from an image of the work, which provided a two-dimensional graphic interpretation, enabling us to work on the creation of the panels. These represent the intermediate stage between the original, gigantic, architectural work in space and the resulting two-dimensional images, photos or drawings.
Originally planned in colours, the panel was finally produced in clear crystal. The rippling colours were then produced using a screen placed behind the work. A design that offers a hypnotic visual effect between the third and second dimension. A bit like a trompe l’oeil, with very intriguing depth.»
James Turrell

Working closely with Lalique's perfumers, this collaboration also saw the creation of the first fragrance created by an artist for Lalique. Inspired by Zane Grey's novel «Riders of the Purple Sage", the first fragrance «Range Rider» captures the natural scents of the artist's homeland, Arizona, including sage-scratched leather chaps, pepper, amber and citrus. It is an olfactory architecture that tells of sun-drenched western ranchers. A second fragrance, «Purple Sage», named after the delicate queen of plants that blooms in Arizona, offers a different interpretation of Turrell's relationship with the American West, oscillating between delicacy and strength. The bottle with its soft curves is a tribute to the eternal female form.

«I created these two fragrances, «Range Rider» and «Purple Sage», to capture the scents of my country. A concentration of skies, horizons and light - that of the Great American West, the truest and most intimate, subtly depicted by Zane Gray in his legendary novel Riders of the Purple Sage. Both are intended to offer an emotional as well as a sensory celebration. Thanks to a close collaboration with Lalique's perfumers, «Range Rider» captures and releases the substantial fragrances of my land: those of animal, leather, pepper, amber and citrus. A daring olfactory architecture that speaks so well of an untamed, fiery virility.»
James Turrell

«Purple Sage», named after this queen of plants, that blooms exclusively in Arizona, offers a different interpretation of my relationship with the great American West, undulating between warmth and sensuality. The bottle, with its soft curves, is a tribute to the eternal feminine form. The perfume has a delicately fruity, musky scent, revealing notes of purple sage, mandarin, grapefruit and rhubarb. In this olfactory orchestration, their characters blend, each attracted to the other. A hungry, free-spirited femininity that would burst into flames at the sight of the incandescent landscapes of the Canyons.»
James Turrell