Michael Somoroff: Illumination I at the Rothko Chapel

In 2006, the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, invited Michael Somoroff to place his majestic sculptural installation, Illumination I on the campus grounds. It was the first such invitation ever made by the Chapel, and the only addition to it since Barnet Newman's Broken Obelisk was placed there some 30 years prior. This book tells the story of this groundbreaking installation, from its conceptualization through its unveiling--in formal and documentary photographs, diagrams and studies. The art historian and author of Mark Rothko's catalogue raisonné, David Anfam, contributes a text, as do Rothko's son, Christopher Rothko, and the artist.Michael Somoroff was born in New York City in 1957. He works in photography, installation, filmmaking, writing and a variety of new media technologies. His work is in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.