Three Gems, A James Turrell Skyspace in San Francisco

Jan 5

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James Turrell Three Gems Skyspace San Francisco de Young Museum

Last year I took a vow to experience as many James Turrell Skyspaces while on Earth. Fortunately, I live on the West Coast, which is home to 12 of these unique installations, so I’ve had the opportunity to diligently seek them out and cross them off my list. I have seen the gorgeous Knight Rise and Air Apparent, Above Horizon at the Sheats Goldstein Residence, and up next is Dividing the Light in Claremont.

While on a recent trip to San Francisco I had the opportunity to be entranced by Three Gems, an incredible work of art by James Turrell commissioned by the de Young Museum upon its reopening in 2005. This Skyspace is surprisingly the first Turrell work to be acquired by the museum. Located in the de Young’s Barbro Osher Sculpture Garden, patrons are asked to walk through a short tunnel cut into a grass-covered hill, which leads to a cylindrical space that is home to the experience. Surrounded by tall concrete walls, washed in gray and blush, you must find your way inside this spiral of cold beauty. Upon entering, stone benches along the circumference welcome you to take a seat in order to best view the sky found through the oculus in the roof. As light, weather, and conditions are forever changing, each viewer experiences the artwork in their own unique way.