Good news Turrell fans (that includes you Kanye). After six long months, MoMA PS1’s treasured Skyspace is back on view following the removal of building equipment on a nearby high-rise that obstructed the view. The artist shutdown the work in January until “the temporary construction scaffolding is no longer visible”, and the developer initially expected the structures would be taken down by May. But it wasn’t until 1 August that the Queens museum happily announced on Twitter that “Our beloved #JamesTurrell Skyspace ‘Meeting’ will reopen”. The sunset lighting programme, created by the artist for the work's 40th anniversary to imbue the rooftop installation in a cycle of soothing hues, will be “partially visible” (weather permitting) this weekend during the Uniqlo-sponsored free admission night on Friday and the Warm Up! electronic music performances on Saturday. Future ticketed viewings are due to be announced by the museum soon.
Meeting was commissioned in 1976 by PS1’s founder Alanna Heiss for the museum’s opening exhibition and is the first skyspace work Turrell made in the US. “This was a place that was really dedicated to [giving young artists the freedom to show their work], if you wanted the roof off, you took the roof off,” Turrell says of this early opportunity, which involved jackhammering four and a half feet of concrete away from the top of the building to create a square aperture that looks directly onto the open sky. “This is something that really did start me off and I have great affection for PS1 because it was really something special that occurred here.”