Architecture for the First Contact?

Only a handful of people have seen his work. A hermit, the greatest living unknown American artist – these are just some of the many labels attached to the name of James Magee, who has for decades been working on his colossal project, which was, when genre is concerned, placed in between sculpture and architecture. This enterprise is taking place in the deserts of Texas.

Born in the small town of Michigan in 1947, after studying Law he headed to Europe. In Paris, he worked a year for the American sculptress Caroline Lee. Magee spent the next decade in New York City, where he worked as a Professor, a cabdriver and had many other jobs. Eventually, returned to Texas to work on oil wells. Simultaneously, he dedicated himself to artistic endeavors. He became a painter, using pseudonyms such as Annabel Livermore and Horace Mayfield. For the most part, these are paintings of landscapes, appreciated, among many others, by Laura Bush. He also attempted literature, movies and videos. However, that which separates him from others is his life’s work: “The Hill”which he spent the last thirty years creating and, in his own words, he’ll require an additional fifteen to finish, to say the least.

On the surface of two thousand acres, Magee devised and built four identical, huge, inter-connected buildings. Each of these is entered through a massive iron portal, and inside one finds gigantic installations. Those who had the pleasure of visiting “The Hill” are unanimous in stating that it is a wondrous space; very hard to define while universally awe-inspiring.
The sense of mystery is further intensified by the fact that the installation hasn’t been opened to the public eye, as opposed to the similar works of other artists.

In the face of the publication of his book and his first great exhibition opening, he did an interview for The Wall Street Journal, where he declared that he doesn’t concern himself with what will become of his life’s work after his death.

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