“James Turrell: Lifting the Veil” at Gagosian Hong Kong Brings Five Decades of Light Art to One of the World’s Most Luminous Cities

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Summary

  • Gagosian Hong Kong opens “James Turrell: Lifting the Veil” on May 28, a survey exhibition spanning holograms, prints, three new Glasswork pieces, and documentation of the artist’s Skyspaces and Roden Crater project
  • The exhibition marks a rare opportunity to encounter Turrell’s practice in Asia, where his philosophical alignment with traditions of emptiness, atmosphere, and perceptual threshold carries particular cultural resonance
  • Lifting the Veil runs through August 1 at the Pedder Building in Central

For over fifty years, James Turrell has explored light as a substance in itself, rather than simply a means to an end. On May 28th, Gagosian Hong Kong will present “Lifting the Veil,” an exhibition showcasing his work with holograms, prints, three Glasswork sculptures, and documentation from his famous Skyspace and Roden Crater projects. Given Hong Kong’s vibrant and brightly lit urban landscape, the exhibition feels particularly relevant – less a random event and more a deliberate statement.

To appreciate the significance of a James Turrell exhibition in Hong Kong, it’s helpful to understand his artistic process, which began in the 1960s. Starting from his studio in Santa Monica, Turrell moved beyond simply using light to illuminate objects. He began to make light itself the focus of his art. As he puts it, instead of light revealing something, light is the revelation. This core idea has driven a remarkably consistent and impactful body of work for over fifty years, ranging from small, early light projections to the massive Roden Crater project.

James Turrell’s Roden Crater is considered the defining work of his career. Begun in 1977 and located in Arizona’s Painted Desert, this unique observatory is built inside a volcanic cone and designed to offer a new way to experience light, time, and the surrounding landscape. The current exhibition features plans, photos, and models of the crater, giving visitors a rare look at a project most will never see firsthand. As fundraising continues to complete the crater and open it to the public, these materials become even more important – they document a work that is still in progress.

The exhibition features three of James Turrell’s Glassworks – Resolute (2025), Patmos (2024), and Of One Mind (2024) – each housed in its own room within the gallery. Begun in 2001, this series uses computer-controlled lights shining through elliptical, diamond, and rectangular openings to create slowly changing color fields. These colors seem to breathe, shifting from the center outwards and playing with your sense of depth. The works are designed to be experienced in order, leading you through a gradual deepening of visual perception. They are considered some of Turrell’s most inviting pieces, as they simply ask you to observe and take your time.

Holograms, which have been around for forty years, create images by reflecting and transmitting light. This makes it seem like forms are floating in space, and their color and position change as you move around them. In Hong Kong, a city with a strong history of valuing emptiness and the line between what is there and what isn’t, these artworks have a deeper meaning than just their technology. The exhibition also includes prints connected to Aten Reign, a large installation Turrell created for the Guggenheim Museum in 2013. That exhibit was incredibly popular, attracting almost half a million visitors and becoming New York’s most-attended show that year. It proved Turrell wasn’t just an artist for a small audience, but one who could captivate the public.

The power of this exhibition goes beyond simply appealing to art enthusiasts. James Turrell’s Skyspaces – rooms with openings to the sky – have been displayed worldwide, from Scotland to Japan, and consistently move people even without prior knowledge of his work. This Hong Kong exhibition includes models and plans that reveal the thought process and construction behind these spaces, which are designed to make the sky feel tangible. This concept resonates particularly strongly in a city like Hong Kong, known for its skyscrapers and its connection to the sky.

“James Turrell: Lifting the Veil” opens May 28 at Gagosian Hong Kong.

Gagosian Hong Kong
7/F Pedder Building,
12 Pedder Street, Central

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2026-05-14 17:56