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The Arts Intel Report

Light & Space

Dec 3, 2021 – Sept 4, 2022
Refshalevej 173A, 1432 København, Denmark

In the 1960s and 70s, artists living in Los Angeles were inspired by the sun and the smog. The loosely affiliated West Coast artists that formed the Light and Space movement took light, and people’s changing perception of it, as the basis for both small and sweeping installations. Spanning all five of the museum’s exhibition halls, Contemporary Copenhagen’s biggest exhibition ever brings the California light to Copenhagen. Alongside work by artists who pioneered the movement—James Turrell, Doug Wheeler, Helen Pashgian, Robert Irwin, Bruce Nauman—are works by contemporary European artists who’ve carried on the tradition, such as Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, and Jeppe Hein. An exhibition highlight is Turrell’s immersive installation Aftershock, the newest addition to the artist’s beloved Ganzfeld series. Turrell created the piece specifically for this show. —J.D.

James Turrell, “Aftershock,” 2021. Courtesy of James Turrell and Häusler Contemporary Zurich. Photo: Florian Holzherr.