Olafur Eliasson Projections Illuminate Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles

Berlin is not particularly known for its sunny days. Which could be a factor in the work by Olafur Eliasson, whose studio is based in the German city. “I’m also influenced by Southern California’s Light and Space movement,” he says. Both inspirations are apparent in his installations at the Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles through August 25.

Eliasson first visited the foundation, occupying the former Scottish Rite Masonic Temple from 1961, two years ago, at the start of its renovation by Why Architecture. “I was able to see the building’s skeleton,” he recalls. The experience informed the resulting three-dimensional film, Reality projector, in the main gallery as well as the pair of enormous spheres, or “atmospheres,” as Eliasson calls them, in the lobby, their structural frameworks intentionally visible.

His hands are in another illuminating project: Little Sun, which brings solar panels to areas in the world that don’t have access to energy. “It’s gradually rising.”