New York – Pace is pleased to present an exhibition of works by the famed 20th century abstract painter Ad Reinhardt, curated by James Turrell, at its 540 West 25th Street gallery in New York from February 11 to March 19, 2022. The presentation, titled Color Out of Darkness, will feature Reinhardt’s paintings illuminated by a lighting concept conceived by Turrell, whose pioneering investigations of light, color, space, and perception have been greatly influenced by Reinhardt’s practice and legacy, in particular his “red,” “blue,” “white,” and “black” paintings. As part of the exhibition, a new Wedgework installation by Turrell will be on view on the first floor of the gallery. Pace Publishing will produce a book for the exhibition to be released following its run.
The show will examine the ways that both artists explore the decentralization of the object in their practices, and Turrell’s lighting concept for the show will foreground the experiential nature of Reinhardt’s work. Leonardo da Vinci’s description of the sfumato technique relates to the exhibition’s focus on perceptual experiences of light and shadow in works by Turrell and Reinhardt. The Renaissance master once said that sfumato is “without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane.” Pace’s exhibition will draw connections between works by Turrell, a key figure of the Light and Space movement, and Reinhardt, who pushed abstraction and monochromatism in painting to new frontiers during his lifetime.
Turrell is known worldwide for installations that explore perceptions of light and space. Pace’s presentation will include Turrell’s new Wedgework installation titled After Effect (2021). The artist’s curatorial vision for the exhibition of Reinhardt’s paintings on the second floor centers enactments of lightness and darkness, and he has created a lighting concept to conjure new modes of viewing Reinhardt’s abstractions. Turrell is also currently the subject of a major retrospective at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams, Massachusetts. Reinhardt, who is widely considered a forefather of Minimalism and Conceptualism, began developing his distinct language of abstraction in the 1930s. While his early works featured bold amalgams of shapes and forms, the artist went on to create his geometrically minded, monochromatic “red” and “blue” paintings and later his “black” paintings. Works from these series figure in Pace’s exhibition, with Turrell’s lighting concept highlighting the nuances and idiosyncrasies of Reinhardt’s abstractions within his monochromatic paintings.
With this exhibition, Turrell presents an homage to Reinhardt as an experiential artist, and his designs of the rooms within the presentation can be considered new works. As curator, Turrell has cultivated a scenography for this show that beckons viewers into the depths of Reinhardt’s abstractions. Turrell’s experimentations with light create otherworldly, immersive experiences for viewers of Reinhardt’s paintings, forging connections between the two artists across time and space.
Pace is a leading international art gallery representing some of the most influential contemporary artists and estates from the past century, holding decades-long relationships with Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet, Barbara Hepworth, Agnes Martin, Louise Nevelson, and Mark Rothko. Pace enjoys a unique U.S. heritage spanning East and West coasts through its early support of artists central to the Abstract Expressionist and Light and Space movements. Since its founding by Arne Glimcher in 1960, Pace has developed a distinguished legacy as an artist-first gallery that mounts seminal historical and contemporary exhibitions. Under the current leadership of President and CEO Marc Glimcher, Pace continues to support its artists and share their visionary work with audiences worldwide by remaining at the forefront of innovation. Now in its seventh decade, the gallery advances its mission through a robust global program—comprising exhibitions, artist projects, public installations, institutional collaborations, performances, and interdisciplinary projects. Pace has a legacy in art bookmaking and has published over five hundred titles in close collaboration with artists, with a focus on original scholarship and on introducing new voices to the art historical canon. The gallery has also spearheaded explorations into the intersection of art and technology through its new business models, exhibition interpretation tools, and representation of artists cultivating advanced studio practices. Pace’s presence in Silicon Valley since 2016 has bolstered its longstanding support of experimental practices and digital artmaking. As part of its commitment to innovative, technologically engaged artists within and beyond its program, Pace launched its own dedicated NFT platform, Pace Verso, in November 2021. The gallery’s past NFT projects have spotlighted digital works by Glenn Kaino, DRIFT, Lucas Samaras, Simon Denny, Urs Fischer, John Gerrard, and other artists.
Today, Pace has nine locations worldwide including London, Geneva, a strong foothold in Palo Alto, and two galleries in New York—its headquarters at 540 West 25th Street, which welcomed almost 120,000 visitors and programmed 20 shows in its first six months, and an adjacent 8,000 sq. ft. exhibition space at 510 West 25th Street. Pace was one of the first international galleries to establish outposts in Asia, where it operates permanent gallery spaces in Hong Kong and Seoul, as well as an office and viewing room in Beijing. In 2020, Pace opened temporary exhibition spaces in East Hampton and Palm Beach, with continued programming on a seasonal basis.

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