Frontal Passage
James Turrell
American, born 1943
1994
A room-sized light installation in which James Turrell sculpts an apparent doorway of intense red, using light itself as the material to alter how you experience the space.
At first you notice a glowing red plane that reads like a literal wall or portal but softens at its edges, making corners and floor dissolve into an ambiguous, enveloping depth that confuses distance and form.
Frontal Passage is part of Turrell’s pioneering work treating light as sculpture—shifting art toward immersive, perceptual experiences and helping to redefine installation art as a practice centered on human seeing.
Medium
Light
Dimensions
12' 10" x 22' 6" x 34' (391.2 x 685.8 x 1036.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Douglas S. Cramer, David Geffen, Robert and Meryl Meltzer, Michael and Judy Ovitz, and Mr. and Mrs. Gifford Phillips Funds
Accession
185.1994
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
