James Turrell

James Turrell (born May 6, 1943) is an American artist. He uses light and space to create his artwork.

 Background 
James Turrell was born in Pasadena, California.Birthplace sometimes given as Los Angeles (for instance, see Adcock, Craig, James Turrell: The Art of Light and Space, Berkeley/Los Angeles/Oxford : University of California Press, 1990, p. 2). Pasadena is given in a biographical note to the introductory leaflet for the 1993 exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, South Bank, London, UK. His father was Archibald Milton Turrell.Adcock, Craig, James Turrell: The Art of Light and Space, Berkeley/Los Angeles/Oxford : University of California Press, 1990, p. 2. He was an aeronautical engineer and teacher. His mother was Margaret Hodges Turrell. She studied medicine and worked in the Peace Corps. Both of his parents were Quakers.

Turrell got a pilot's license when he was 16 years old. He carried supplies by plane to mines that were far away. He also made maps by flying over areas. He earned a BA degree from Pomona College in perceptual psychology in 1965. He studied the Ganzfeld effect and mathematics, geology and astronomy there. Turrell entered the graduate Studio Art program at the University of California, Irvine in 1966. Then he began making work using light projections.Belcove, Julie L. "Incredible Lightness", Harpers Bazaar, April 19, 2013. In 1966 he was arrested for teaching young men how to avoid getting drafted in the Vietnam War. He spent about a year in jail and left UC Irvine.Wil S. Hylton (June 13, 2013), How James Turrell Knocked the Art World Off Its Feet New York Times. In 1973, he earned an MA degree in art from Claremont Graduate University.Biographical note to the introductory leaflet for the 1993 exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, South Bank, London, UK In 2004, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Haverford College.

 Awards 
Turrell has received many awards in the arts including The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1984 and the National Medal of Arts in 2013.

 Books 
 Eclipse. Documents The Elliptic Ecliptic and Arcus, two temporary installations accompanying the last total eclipse of the 20th century. ()
 The Other Horizon. An overview of Turrell's development from 1967 to 2001. ()
 James Turrell : the art of light and space by Craig Adcock. ()
 James Turrell. Geometrie di luce. Roden Crater Project by Agostino De Rosa. ()
 L'homme qui marchait dans la couleur (The Man Who Walked in Colour) by Georges Didi-Huberman. ()

 Interviews 
 works + conversations interview of James Turrell
 EGG interview with James Turrell 
 Into The Light: A Conversation with James Turrell by Elaine A. King

 References 

 Other websites 
 Authorized James Turrell Website
 Google Map of James Turrell Installations
 BakerIE.org
 Mattress Factory exhibition by James Turrell 
 BBC article about James Turrell
 Flickr: jamesturrell
 Roden Crater 1978
 Roden Crater on Google Maps
 James Turrell Perspectives exhibition at the Academy Art Museum 

Category:American artists
Category:Quakers