Ad Reinhardt: Color Out of Darkness

Text by Phong Bui, Leopoldine Core, Torkwase Dyson, Brian Greene, David Grubbs, Alteronce Gumby, Wayne Kostenbaum, Dorothea Lasky, Lucy Lippard, Rebecca Oppenheimer, Lynne Tillman

A critically acclaimed encounter between two American masters of threshold perception and color nuance

This book brings together the work of abstract painter Ad Reinhardt (1913–67) and key figure of the Light and Space movement James Turrell (born 1943). Turrell first encountered Reinhardt at a lecture at Pasadena Museum in 1962, and paid homage to the influence Reinhardt had on his own work through the exhibition Ad Reinhardt: Color Out of Darkness, held at Pace Gallery in early 2022. As curator, Turrell designed the presentation and lighting concept to illuminate his chosen works from Reinhardt’s geometric, monochromatic “red,” “blue” and “black” paintings. This book documents this immersive exhibition through numerous installation photographs taken under different lighting conditions, accompanied by prose and poetry from a wide range of contributors, written in direct response to the visual experience of seeing the exhibition. Contemporary artists, writers, scientists and poets explore the experiential nature of both Reinhardt and Turrell’s work.