American Artist James Turrell’s New Colognes Capture the Essence of the Desert

The name might not be all that familiar to those outside the art world, James Turrell has transcended the notoriously exclusive industry and entered the realm of popular culture. Simply put, he’s just as much of a celebrity as the high-profile (and high-earning) folks installing his work in their open concept California homes.

The pieces these people — Kendall Jenner, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Drake, Devin Booker — put up, though, are miniature versions of Turrell’s usual installations. Roden Crater, for example, a concept he’s been working on since the ’70s, is carved into a literal dormant volcano. Excavating it, reconfiguring its interior and drilling what is essentially a skylight has cost the artist (and the galleries that support him) somewhere between $15 and $25 million.

All of this might sound excessive to those that have never experienced it in person. I haven’t been out to Roden Crater, but I did see a Turrell work at MASS MoCa (The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art). Titled Into the Light, it was a transformative, portal-like room with bright, multidirectional LED lights and an edge that seemed to drop all the way down to the center of the earth. It was all sensory overload in the best kind of way.

The same sense of wonder is carried over into even the smallest of projects, which is why celebs (and everyday people, too) love them. They’re a spectacle — an aura, even, that draws you closer and alerts your deepest curiosities. The same can be said of newest effort, which is far more functional than projects past: two collaborative colognes with fragrance house Lalique.

Courtesy

Courtesy

They debuted at the Paris+ art fair, an exhibition of high-end art that happens annually. It was a fitting first look for the fragrances, which are absolutely artworks in their own right. Both scents, Ranger Rider and Purple Sage, are packaged in bottles inspired by Egyptian architecture, the artist says.

Their color gradients emphasize Turrell’s passion for light and reflection. They’re clear, albeit tinted, but it isn’t obvious where the liquid is truly housed. Set to the side, whether on a nightstand or on your dresser, it looks like an installation of its own, not something you’d pick up to spritz yourself.

As for the aromas, they’re a nod to Turrell’s relationship with deserts. Roden Crater is at the center of one outside Flagstaff, Arizona. These however, call to the Colorado Plateau, a part of Utah where Turrell put down roots with his wife, Kyung, and northeastern Arizona.

“I created these two fragrances, Range Rider and Purple Sage, to capture the scents of my country. A concentration of skies, horizons and light,” Turrell says in the Lalique catalog introducing the new collection. “Range Rider captures and releases the substantial fragrances of my land: those of animal, sage-scratched leather chaps, pepper, amber and citrus — an olfactory architecture that speaks of the sun-drenched Western ranching. Purple Sage, named after this delicate, queen of plants that blooms exclusively in Arizona, offers a different interpretation of my relationship with the great American West, undulating between delicacy and strength. This is the first time I have designed perfumes and made crystal pieces. Creating a perfume is a bit like creating a world you have known.”

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