Inverted Portal, Tippet Rise Art Center. © James Florio.
On September 3, the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings is opening the exhibition Thirtysix Views of Inverted Portal by James Florio. The exhibition will run until January 9, 2027.
The exhibition features a grid of photographs chronicling the 22-foot-tall structure, Inverted Portal, over seven winters. Designed by Ensamble Studio, the sculpture is sited on the grounds of Tippet Rise Art Center, where it functions as both shelter and sculptural form within the landscape. Through repeated returns to the site, Florio’s photographs capture the shifting conditions of snow, light, and weather that continually reshape its presence.
In 2025, MAS Context published the book of the same name.
From the photographer
“Over the course of seven winters, I hiked up the hill to Inverted Portal 482 times with an 8 x 10 large format camera. The first few journeys were unintentional—I was drawn by the site’s magnetism. Soon, however, it became a pilgrimage.
I climbed again and again, through snow and cold, in light and dark, in silence and in nature’s deafening roar, to the top of the hill. Listening to the sound of the mountain and witnessing the land’s infinite change, it was the wind that decided if an image would be made. It set the tempo, dictating the time spent there, the light as it reflected off the sculpture, the force of the weather that engulfed us.
The only way to create these images was to be there in all of it. These thirty-six views tell the story of what is possible—but equally—what isn’t.”
RELATED EVENTS
Opening Reception, Documentary Film Viewing, and Conversation with James Florio
Thursday, September 3, 2026 // Opening Reception 5 PM; 5:30 PM Documentary Film/Conversation
Member Exclusive: An Afternoon with James Florio at River Arts & Books in Roscoe, Montana
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 // 10:30 AM – 2 PM // Cost: $20
Education Workshop: Photography Intensive with James Florio
Saturday, October 24, 2026 // 10 AM – 2 PM // Cost: $45
Billings Symphony Cello Soundscapes responds to Thirtysix Views of Inverted Portal
Friday, November 13, 2026 // 1 PM & 3 PM // Cost: $10
Yellowstone Art Museum
401 North 27th Street
Billings, Montana, 59101