Seeking to create “an architecture of space” with light, James Turrell conducts his explorations on a grand scale. For the first time, he has embraced the small dimension by collaborating with the crystalworks founded by René Lalique, “the sculptor of light.” As a tribute to the landscapes of the American West, where he established his celestial observatory at Roden Crater, Turrell transposed his impressions of Arizona into two perfume bottles with pure forms and powerful colors, playing with capturing and diffracting light waves. Named Range Riders et Purple Sage, These pieces combine technical prowess and poetic refinement. With the illuminated panel Crystal Light, the artist echoes his installation Aten Reign, Exhibited at the Guggenheim in New York in 2013: her concentric ellipses draw the eye into the heart of a hypnotic pattern through precisely distributed and subtly graduated hues, creating the sensation of luminous vibration that is so characteristic of her work. Small in size, these works are nonetheless monumental.
Sophie Reyssat
