While nothing can beat the majestic centerpiece of Guggenheim’s Aten Reign, overall James Turrell Retrospective at MFAH is better in scope and more vibrant. It is also slightly more dangerous. In the installation shown in the thumbnail below, if you go forward too far, the drop is ten feet. In a permanent installation in the basement, you must stick to the walkway or suffer a less severe drop. There is only one exhibit that has a two hour cycle, but I only lasted 40 minutes before I felt too entranced; however, if I had arrived when it opened, I would have stayed for the full two hours because the rest of the Turrell installations would only take an additional 2 to 3 hours to see. Don’t make the same mistake that I made-if you do go to Houston, while planning your trip, see when you can visit Turrell’s permanent installations at Rice University and a Quaker meeting house because those installations were closed when I found out about them at the exhibit. Guess that I’ll have to visit Houston again! Next stop (please pray that I make it with no sudden Murphy law surprises), LA!
James Turrell Retrospective at MFAH
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