MICHAEL HEIZER: MARKINGS, an exhibition featuring a series of
abstract minimalist works will be on view at the Nohra Haime Gallery from
September 14 through October
23.
Driven by his explorations of land sites and familiarity with
the topography of arid regions, Heizer conveys through markings his concern with
the concepts of time, movement, space and emptiness. This is certainly revealed
in his paintings of 1978-79 where on a white surface, layers of earth-tone
pigment are applied with paint rollers following free-hand vertical lines -
gestural and dynamic method. Heizer creates subtle shade variations and
intricate broken patterns through overlapping wide slabs of paint in rectangular
configurations, changing the pressure he uses to apply the paint. The
combination of the whole results in rugged, yet controlled abstractions that
have affinities with forms - depressions, nets and ripples - found in the desert
landscape.
Like land that has been attacked, the complex rhythms and
flickering forms seen in his monochromatic works of 1978 - executed with brown
latex - seem to suggest traces left on the earth's surface by the effects of
weathering and erosion.
At the same time, the fragmented
strokes may be associated with tracks derived from tractors employed for massive
earth moving. This is manifested, for instance, in Untitled (Black and Gold), 1979 where
with a roller the artist builds up coarse layers of aluminum powder mixed with
oil - a new medium Heizer began to employ in 1979. However, it may be suggested that some patterns take the form of
rock drawings and inscriptions made by prehistoric Native Americans, most likely
informed by Heizer's archaeological explorations. With this in mind, the
shadowed areas that give the sense of volume may be read as terrain elevations,
or ancient ceremonial mounds, which Heizer knew existed throughout the
Midwest.
Although the forms in these compositions may spring from
Heizer's recollections of his ventures into the mountains of Mexico, Central
America and the deserts of California and Nevada, their non-representational
approach allows for endless interpretations. Undeniably, the juxtaposition of
positive and negative space that introduce ever-changing suggestions of depth,
space and movement, unite to become a topographic map-like landscape viewed from
an imagined bird's
eye.
Born in Berkeley, California, in 1944, Michael Heizer emerged in
the 1960s as a pioneer of the land art or earth art movement. His work can be
seen in major public spaces around the world. Amidst his large-scale earthworks
are Double Negative (1969) on the
edge of the Virgin River mesa, in Nevada; City (begun in 1970), an enormous complex in the desert of Lincoln
County, Nevada, and Effigy Tumuli
(1985), a monumental construction created along the Illinois River. Heizer has
exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally,
including the Whitney Museum of American Art (1968 and 1977), the Venice
Biennale (1970), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1971), the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1984), and the Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy
(1997). Selected collections
include Basel/Kuntsmuseum, Switzerland; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; Oakland
Museum; the City of Seattle; the State of Michigan; the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York; the Marty Margulies Collection, Miami; the Menil Collection,
Houston and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. LEVITATED MASS, from 1982 can be seen
outside the IBM building on Madison and 56th Street, one block away
from the gallery. Heizer currently lives in Nevada, where he continues his work
on the project City.
DATES: September 14 - October 23,
2010
OPENING: Tuesday, September 14, from 6 to 8
p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ana Maria de la Ossa at
212-888-3550
