James Turrell Museum Tours in the Nude Is a Thing

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) is hosting an eye-opening art experience in which 150 visitors will take a tour of their ongoing James Turrell Retrospective—in the nude. For two days in April, 50 attendees at a time will be led through the entire exhibition, with the exception being the sold-out Perceptual Cell piece, by artist Stuart Ringholt. "We seem to forget the nude is really important to art history," Ringholt tells the Canberra Times. "The museum in itself is reductive—we have the idea of the white cube but why have we then reduced the viewer through their clothing?"

In fact, Turrell himself may have similar sentiments. According to an Australian news site, visitors to an exhibition in Japan were similarly invited to disrobe to experience Turrell's work. "Light is this amazing elixir,” he explains in a documentary. “We drink light through the skin as Vitamin D […] so we are literally light eaters. It’s part of our diet.”

Although James Turrell Retrospective is NGA's first experience with nude art tours, Ringholt, has already led them at both Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and MONA in Tasmania. Prospective attendees must be over 18 to purchase tickets for the three events. Additionally, each tour will be followed by a nude tea reception.

Related:

For $6500 You Can Visit James Turrell's Unfinished Observatory

Let's Find the Hidden Ed Ruscha Sculpture in the Mojave

Watch The Guggenheim Install A James Turrell Light Sculpture

James Turrell's Skyspace Radiates Color And Transforms The Sky