James Turrell's 1983 Mattress Factory residency (previously
discussed here, here, and here) produced seminal artworks Danaë and Pleiades, which stand as core pieces within the museum's permanent collection. Moreover, the residency forged a warm
and lasting friendship between Turrell and the Mattress Factory Co-Directors,
Barbara Luderowski and Michael Olijnyk.
This friendship not only served as a catalyst for the numerous collaborations
that have occurred over the years between the Mattress Factory and Turrell, but
it also illustrates how the Mattress Factory works with artists. As if with friends, the Mattress
Factory aims to share and build a mutually supportive and inspiring environment
where art can be created, appreciated, and developed with some smiles,
laughter, and a few surprises along the way.
When his residency ended, Turrell agreed to exchange
ownership of Pleiades for Barbara's
stash of aged black walnut and a giant, motorized 10-foot band saw, which came
with a huge motor and a joiner. To
transport all the wood and machinery to Turrell's studio in Arizona, Barbara,
Michael and Turrell rented a U-haul truck and the three set off on a
cross-country journey. Barbara recalls
that all along the way, after every meal and pit stop, they would race each
other back to the truck, each aiming to avoid the dreaded middle seat where one
had to straddle the truck's manual stick shift. They had originally planned to explore little towns along
the way in a Jaguar Turrell bought in Connecticut before the trip. However, the Jaguar dropped all its oil
before they left the Mattress Factory, so it was rigged behind the U-haul for
the whole ride.
Michael and Turrell with parade float encountered
during road trip
James Turrell with Barbara and Michael after
arriving in Arizona
Whether it was the laughs they shared along the road trip or
the mutual appreciation they discovered on their first meeting, the Mattress
Factory and James Turrell found in each other a natural friend and
collaborator. Turrell enlisted the
help of Michael to install his piece Meetingat PS1 in Long Island City and again when Turrell exhibited
at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 1986.
In 1994, Turrell returned to the Mattress Factory to exhibit
his works Soft Cell and Catso, Red. A part of Turrell's Perceptual
Cells series, Soft Cell is an enclosed, autonomous space with room
for only one person at a time. The series explores how perception of space is
influenced by light[1].
Exhibition photograph of Soft Cell, 1992 at the Mattress Factory in 1994
Catso, Red, which
was designed in 1967 as part of a series of Cross-Corner Projections, was added
to the Mattress Factory's permanent collection in 1994.
Exhibition photo of James Turrell's Catso, Red, 1994
Photo by Florian Holtzer
The friendship and collaboration between James Turrell and
the Mattress Factory culminated in 2002's James Turrell: Into the Light, a
year-long exhibition presenting a variety of newly created and older works
re-imagined for the Pittsburgh audience.
We'll hear more about that mega-show in our next posting.
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