landmark james turrell exhibition to inaugurate superblue kyoto in early 2027

SUPERBLUE BRINGS EXPERIENTIAL ART TO KYOTO

Superblue, the Miami-based experiential art company, opens its first international art center in Kyoto, Japan, in early 2027, with a major exhibition dedicated to American artist James Turrell. Located in the Kyoto Station Southeast Area, directly opposite teamLab Biovortex Kyoto, the venue brings together two distinct approaches to immersive art, contributing to a wider initiative to establish the neighborhood as a cultural destination. The inaugural exhibition traces Turrell’s six-decade exploration of light and space, presenting one of his largest solo exhibitions in Japan.

Founded in 2020, Superblue develops and presents large-scale experiential artworks that place visitors within the work. Its first permanent venue opened in Miami in 2021, presenting installations by artists including Es Devlin, teamLab, and Turrell. 

A NEW CULTURAL DISTRICT NEAR KYOTO STATION

Superblue Kyoto occupies the Kyoto Station Southeast Area, a neighborhood included in a City of Kyoto revitalization initiative seeking to establish cultural and creative hubs, with an emphasis on art, culture, and younger generations. Directly across from Superblue stands teamLab Biovortex Kyoto, which opened in October 2025 as the collective’s largest museum in the country. The two buildings share a distinctive indigo-blue exterior and will face one another, creating a concentrated destination for visitors interested in large-scale, immersive art.

For Kyoto, a city whose cultural identity is closely associated with its historical architecture, temples, and traditional arts, the development introduces another layer to its contemporary cultural landscape. The pairing of Superblue and teamLab offers a new point of encounter between international contemporary art, technological experimentation, and the city’s ongoing efforts to develop creative spaces.

JAMES TURRELL TURNS LIGHT INTO A PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE

Since beginning his artistic practice in the 1960s, Turrell has treated light as the primary material of his work. His installations manipulate color, depth, and spatial perception, often making light appear almost tangible while destabilizing the viewer’s understanding of the surrounding environment. One of his earliest experiments, Afrum-Proto (1966), uses a projection of white light onto the corner formed by two walls. The resulting geometric shape creates the illusion of a solid, three-dimensional cube emerging from the architecture. 

Over the following decades, Turrell developed several interconnected bodies of work, including his Projection Pieces (1966–69), Skyspaces (1974–), and Ganzfelds (1976–). Each series approaches perception differently, using controlled light conditions to alter the relationship between the viewer and the artwork. His most ambitious undertaking remains Roden Crater, an extinct volcano in Arizona’s Painted Desert that he has been transforming into a monumental naked-eye observatory since 1977. Its chambers and tunnels frame the sun, moon, stars, and planets, turning natural celestial events into constructed perceptual experiences. 

At Superblue Kyoto, a broad selection of works will trace this development from the artist’s early experiments to his more recent installations. Visitors will encounter environments that invite them to reconsider how they perceive color, distance, depth, and space. The exhibition’s individual artworks and complete presentation are expected to be announced in December 2026.

project info:

name: Superblue Kyoto
inaugural exhibition: James Turrell | @jamesturell

location: 15-3 Higashikujo Higashi-Iwamotocho, Minami-ku, Kyoto, Japan
developer / presenter: Superblue | @superblue.art

opening: 2027