James Turrell Issues Amusing Statement About Drake’s “Hotline Bling” Video
When Drake unveiled his endlessly GIF-able “Hotline Bling” video a couple of days ago, many viewers — including yours truly — were quick to point out the similarities between the clip’s glowing backdrops and the installations of renowned Light And Space artist James Turrell. Last year, Drake visited Turrell’s retrospective exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art and told Rolling Stone, “I fuck with Turrell. He was a big influence on the visuals for my last tour.” But while the inspiration behind the “Hotling Bling” visuals is pretty obvious, Vulture reports that the 72-year-old artist didn’t actually have anything to do with the creation of the video. “While I am truly flattered to learn that Drake fucks with me, I nevertheless wish to make clear that neither I nor any of my woes was involved in any way in the making of the ‘Hotline Bling’ video,” Turrell said in a statement posted by Donn Zaretsky of John Silberman Associates, the law firm that represents him. It’s not like Turrell’s career needs the boost from the infamous Drake co-sign, but hey, it’d be kinda cool if more non-art-nerd types discovered his work through this.