Artist
James Turrell (American, born 1943)American, born 1943
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Site Plan Roden Crater
Date1990
MediumPhoto-emulsion, wax acrylic, and tushe on Mylar
DimensionsImage: 38 3/8 × 60 1/16 in. (97.5 × 152.5 cm)
Frame: 39 1/2 × 61 1/8 in. (100.3 × 155.3 cm)
Frame: 39 1/2 × 61 1/8 in. (100.3 × 155.3 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund, The Manfred Heiting Collection
Object number2002.2482
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographySpecial Collections
Object Type
properties of light led him to purchase land with a 400,000-year-old extinct
volcano near Flagstaff, Arizona. Known as the Roden Crater, this has become the
major focus of Turrell’s investigation of our relationship with the cosmos.
Over the course of three decades, he has created a series of tunnels and
viewing chambers to frame the open sky. The largest of these chambers is the
crater of the volcano itself, from which (in the words of the artist) “the
entire sky will look like the inside of an enormous dome.” This
photo-documentation of the project demonstrates Turrell’s careful plotting of
the site and his plans to modify the natural form of the volcano in order to
map the celestial geometry of the heavens.
Provenance[Manfred Heiting, Malibu, California]; purchased by MFAH, 2002.
Exhibition History"Contemporary Photos from the Manfred Heiting Collection" at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, 5/17 through 8/10/03.
"Contemporary Photography from the Collection of the MFAH", at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, August 15, 2003-January 4, 2004.
"Second Nature: Contemporary Landscapes from the MFAH Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, July 10 - September 25, 2011
"James Turrell: The Light Inside," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 9 June - 22 September 2013.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
James Turrell
no date
Aquatint and photo aquatint in colors [left]; Aquatint, photo aquatint and etching in colors [right], working proof
96.469
James Turrell
no date
Aquatint and photo aquatint in colors [left]; Aquatint, photo aquatint and etching in colors [right]
96.468
James Turrell
no date
Photo aquatint, aquatint, soft ground and etching in colors with blue powdered pigment
96.467
James Turrell
no date
Aquatint, photo aquatint, etching and soft ground in colors
96.465
James Turrell
1988
Aquatint, photoetching, etching, soft ground etching, and drypoint in black, gold, and red, edition 3/35
96.38.5
Wangechi Mutu
2015
Photo montage from printed sources, collage, spray paint, and cut fabric with ink on Mylar and paper board
2016.81
James Rosenquist
1971
Lithograph in colors with collage of mirrored-Mylar on wove paper, edition 21/70
84.68
