James Turrell
The Light Inside

The Light Inside

© James Turrell

The Light Inside
The Light Inside
ArtistAmerican, born 1943
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • The Light Inside
Date1999
PlaceHouston, Texas, United States
MediumNeon and ambient light
DimensionsOverall: 132 × 246 × 1416 in. (335.3 × 624.8 × 3596.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum commission, funded by Isabel B. and Wallace S. Wilson
Object number2000.1
Current Location
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
Ll 24 Wilson Gallery
Exposé

Explore Further

Description

In the mid-1960s James Turrell pioneered a new concern with the phenomena of space and light, often referred to as the Light & Space Movement. Turrell sought not to depict light but to use light itself as his material, and his earliest works investigated the effects of artificial light. He also developed a number of installations that heightened the relationship between light and the architectural frame.


The MFAH commissioned “The Light Inside” for the underground tunnel linking the Museum’s Caroline Wiess Law Building with the Audrey Jones Beck Building when the latter opened in 2000. “The Light Inside” turns the walls of the tunnel into vessels for conducting light. An expanded version of Turrell’s Shallow Space Construction series, “The Light Inside” is an all-encompassing environment.


Transcending the traditional confines of built spaces, “The Light Inside” acts as both a passage and a destination. The raised walkway guides visitors forward and gives them the sense of floating in space, while the changing cycle of illumination (which shifts from blue, to crimson, to magenta) further invites contemplation. “The Light Inside” makes the experience of moving between the Law and the Beck Buildings not only an exploration of light and space, but also a profound and awe-inspiring experience.


ProvenanceCommissioned from the artist by MFAH, 1999; purchased by MFAH, 2000.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Acro, Green
James Turrell
1968
Projected light
2008.371
Raethro II, Blue: Cross Corner Construction
James Turrell
1970
Neon light
2010.1482
Rondo (Blue) from the series Shallow Spaces
James Turrell
1969
Neon light
2010.1481
The Changing Room: Perceptual Cell
James Turrell
1991
Neon light
2011.645
End Around: Ganzfeld
James Turrell
2013
Neon and fluorescent light
2012.288
Neon Wrapping Incandescent
Keith Sonnier
1969
Incandescent bulbs with porcelain fixtures and neon tubing, electrical wire, and electrical transformer
2015.89
Cromosaturación
Carlos Cruz-Diez
1965/2004
Three chromo-cubicles (fluorescent light with blue, red, and green filters)
2009.464
Pixel Forest Transformer
Pipilotti Rist
2016
Hanging LED light audio-video installation
2017.114
Series of Vulnerable Arrangements—Version Cologne
Haegue Yang
2007
Light installation
2008.379.A-.F
Chromosaturation MFAH
Carlos Cruz-Diez
1965 / 2017, installed 2020
Light installation
2019.694
Sometimes an underground movement is an illuminated bridge
Ólafur Elíasson
2020
Light installation
2019.690
For reference purposes only
James Turrell
1989
Incandescent light
2010.1483