Heinz Mack
Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf
until 30 May 2021
Marking the 90th birthday of Heinz Mack (*1931), the Kunstpalast dedicates an exhibition to the artist, focussing primarily on his early oeuvre from the 1950s to the 1970s. The show illuminates the innovative and revolutionary spirit with which Mack unlocked new spheres of thinking and working outside academic requisites. The selection of around 100 exhibits, including a number of expansive works, traces the key stages of Mack’s artistic career, such as his studies at the Academy of Art Düsseldorf, his ZERO period, as well as presenting light-based environmental art and his conquest of outdoor spaces by way of large-scale projects in nature.
Encompassing both famous and rarely-shown works – loans from institutions and private collections from Belgium, Great Britain, Liechtenstein and Germany, as well as from the artist himself – the exhibition invites visitors to follow a chronological route through Mack’s oeuvre. Alongside paintings, sculptures and light-kinetic installations, the show comprises photography, film, stage design and the artist’s architectural projects. Legendary Land Art projects take visitors to the North African desert and to the ice of the Arctic ocean. Heinz Mack’s artistic exploration of immaterial mediums such as light, time and motion continues to have a significant influence on many artists to this day.
Curator: Heike van den Valentyn