Robert Irwin
Artist

Robert Irwin and James Turrell inside the anechoic chamber at UCLA, 1969. Image courtesy of Malcolm Lubliner and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica. © Malcolm Lubliner
A native of Southern California, Robert Irwin (born 1928) began his career as a painter, associating with the vibrant Ferus Gallery scene of the late 1950s and 1960s. Irwin’s ongoing considerations of the nature of light and space led him to produce complex environmental paintings and, in turn, non-object based environments and installations. By the early 1970s he was a leader among the generation of artists to define the Light and Space movement, which continues to inform the complex works he produces today. Irwin’s artwork is characterized by unique perceptual qualities that are produced by a moving viewer and respond to the specific conditions that surround each work. In addition to site-specific installations, Irwin’s practice has also included extensive theoretical writing and landscape design.
Works of Art
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Black on White, 2011, Robert Irwin. Granite. 60 x 36 x 392 in. This work was commissioned by the J. Paul Getty Trust in honor of James N. Wood. © Robert Irwin
These images show a model of the installation, the quarry in India where the granite was sourced, and the piece after delivery to the fabricator.