“Look at the corner of the room and walk across here from wall to wall.”

It’s the first and only instruction we get, and it’s at the first piece we see (Afrum (White)). Immediately we know that James Turrell is an artist whose work revolves around perspective. Unlike the traditional artist, Turrell doesn’t work with paint or brush. Rather, he manipulates something we don’t necessarily expect to be manipulated: light. James Turrell: A Retrospective marks nearly fifty years of the artist’s career exploring light, perception, space and architecture. Thus, the LACMA exhibition is the most comprehensive overview of Turrell’s work to date and features everything from three-dimensional illusions to holograms and dark spaces, the combination of which results in a varied and immersive experience.

The retrospective is split into two parts and housed in two separate buildings. The first contains the majority of pieces—here, you walk through several rooms and various light spaces. The breadth of installations is dazzling. Some of them bathe the walls in vibrant washes of color; many commandeer the entire room. They may shift their dimensions in relation to the viewer, such as Afrum (White) and Juke, Green, or fill the whole space like Turrell’s “Shallow Spaces” (such as Raemar Pink White). 

Further on, there’s a room devoted to six of Turrell’s Holograms, pieces created through the scrupulous process of misexposing holographic film. Depending on the angle at which you look at each piece, sweeping your eyes from side to side, the light reveals three-dimensional shapes. In one, a sharp ledge of teal, graduating to cobalt blue, shifts horizontally, jutting straight out at the viewer. Another reflects red and green light and recedes into the dark edges of the frame. Each makes you feel as if the image is in real space, as if you could swipe your fingers right through it.

Other spaces heighten the effect light with darkness. Darkened rooms allow installations like Key Lime and St. Elmo’s Breath to work their magic. These immersive environments allow one to sense space in a unique way as Turrell draws on the sensory experience of light and gives it its own condensed, physical presence. 

The second part of the exhibition, in comparison, is markedly less abundant than the first. Half of it you can’t experience without an additional ticket and appointment (which have already sold out and are no longer available), so those interested in entering a “Perceptual Cell” like Light Reignfall (where one viewer at a time enters a spherical chamber and is surrounded by saturated light; apparently the wavelength of the light and sound that surround the subject work to create a mesmerizing, sometimes emotional, experience) or a “Dark Space” such as Dark Matters might be disappointed. However, there is one large light piece on display for those with a normal ticket, a “Ganzfield” called Breathing Light. The illusion is that of a visually seamless environment, a “snowstorm” effect. But due to the eight-person capacity cap, be prepared to wait in line. Finally, though sparse in the way of installations, part two does promise a bevy of models and images of Turrell’s work at the Roden Crater, a 400,000 year-old volcano where the artist has constructed a series of tunnels, rooms and apertures as celestial viewing chambers. Complete with a video of Turrell himself explaining the work, the project and its mechanics are truly fascinating. It’s only a shame that the viewer isn’t able to view these spaces himself.

Given that the meat of the retrospective is really in part one, I would advise you to linger there. However, all of Turrell’s work is captivating and truly transformative. Allow yourself to experience color and light as both material and immaterial, to slow down and contemplate transparency, volume and color. James Turrell: A Retrospective presents not only an opportunity to appreciate an artist but to see with a greater awareness.

LACMA's James Turrell: A Retrospective is open until April 6, 2014. Advance tickets are highly recommended and can be booked online.

Reach Staff Reporter Kelly Belter here.