March 26, 2026
Nancy Holt
Light and Shadow Poetics
MAK Center
February 25 - May 24, 2026
Nancy Holt
Nancy Holt (1938-2014) is best known for Sun Tunnels (1973-78), an earthwork placed on a piece of land she purchased in Great Basin Desert, Utah. Four gigantic concrete cylinders are installed there in an X-shaped configuration specifically aligned to frame the rising and setting sun during the summer and winter solstice. First and foremost, the work is experiential. It is about perception and the relationship of the human body to the minutiae of the ever-changing landscape. Though not the same, extensive photo-documentation has brought the work to viewers who could not venture to Utah.
For the exhibition Light and Shadow Poetics, a selection of photographs, videos, and a sound piece are presented within the space of the Schindler House. Installed on bare concrete walls between thin vertical windows or alongside built-in furniture, Holt's works enact a dialogue with Schindler's structure. They share interests in sight-lines, shifting light conditions, and how the body is positioned within space. The exhibit brings together two masters — Holt, a conceptualist and land-based artist and Schindler, a modernist architect — both of whom were concerned with the ways light could be captured, represented and experienced.
This is immediately evident in Light and Shadow Photo Drawings (1978) a series of twenty-two black and white inkjet prints (fabricated by the artist from the original 126 format transparencies in 2012). They fill two adjacent walls in the gallery. To create these abstract images, Holt shined a light through curved cutouts and photographically captured the ensuing shapes and shadows that were projected. The result is an array of circles, curves and arcs in opaque and transparent shades of black, white and gray that feel other-worldly and celestial.
Another iconic work, Sunlight in Sun Tunnels (1976) is a large print consisting of a grid of thirty images that focus on the changing light in the interior of one of Holt's Sun Tunnels. Holt placed her camera at the edge of one of the pipes and shot a picture every half hour from 6:30 am to 9:00 pm, documenting the movement of the sun from the perspective of the interior of the tunnel. Seeing the image in the context of the Schindler House, one also becomes hyper aware of how light fills this interior space.
California Sun Signs (1972) is a series of nineteen square-formatted, color photographs that feature the word "sun." The images document signs and illustrations that celebrate the marriage of California and the sun as the iconic source of its weather and the seductive qualities of its landscape. Installed in a loose grid, the images feel both current and dated. As gas today is upwards of $5.00 a gallon, the photograph of a "Sunland" gas station with prices at 35 and 33 cents takes us back in time. Images depicting the words Sunkist, Sundaes, Sunset Palms, N. Sunair Plaza, Sunbeam Inn, Sunshine Pre-school and even Sun Air Drugs take viewers on a focused journey through California's desert landscapes. These snap-shot style photographs highlight bright light and blue skies. In the advertisement for "Sunair Center" the letter "S" sits on top of a yellow sun below an arrow that points into the deep blue sky.
During my visit, the light was bright enough to make it almost impossible to see the projected video Sun Tunnels (1978) that documented the original installation of the work in Utah. Color reflections also overwhelmed two black and white photographs, Concrete Poem (1968) and Concrete Visions (1967). To see these prints one had to bob up and down, dodging one's own shadow as well as the reflection of the trees in the courtyard. While Schindler's architecture disrupted the viewing of Holt's pieces at that instant, it also called attention to the relationship between inside and outside, as well as how light changes over time: this was exactly what Holt was exploring in her large-scale earthworks. Like Schindler, she was interested in the process of looking, the poetics of light and shadow and the nuances of human perception. Together they become rich companions and counterparts.
Light and Shadow Poetics
MAK Center
February 25 - May 24, 2026
Nancy Holt
Nancy Holt (1938-2014) is best known for Sun Tunnels (1973-78), an earthwork placed on a piece of land she purchased in Great Basin Desert, Utah. Four gigantic concrete cylinders are installed there in an X-shaped configuration specifically aligned to frame the rising and setting sun during the summer and winter solstice. First and foremost, the work is experiential. It is about perception and the relationship of the human body to the minutiae of the ever-changing landscape. Though not the same, extensive photo-documentation has brought the work to viewers who could not venture to Utah.
For the exhibition Light and Shadow Poetics, a selection of photographs, videos, and a sound piece are presented within the space of the Schindler House. Installed on bare concrete walls between thin vertical windows or alongside built-in furniture, Holt's works enact a dialogue with Schindler's structure. They share interests in sight-lines, shifting light conditions, and how the body is positioned within space. The exhibit brings together two masters — Holt, a conceptualist and land-based artist and Schindler, a modernist architect — both of whom were concerned with the ways light could be captured, represented and experienced.
This is immediately evident in Light and Shadow Photo Drawings (1978) a series of twenty-two black and white inkjet prints (fabricated by the artist from the original 126 format transparencies in 2012). They fill two adjacent walls in the gallery. To create these abstract images, Holt shined a light through curved cutouts and photographically captured the ensuing shapes and shadows that were projected. The result is an array of circles, curves and arcs in opaque and transparent shades of black, white and gray that feel other-worldly and celestial.
Another iconic work, Sunlight in Sun Tunnels (1976) is a large print consisting of a grid of thirty images that focus on the changing light in the interior of one of Holt's Sun Tunnels. Holt placed her camera at the edge of one of the pipes and shot a picture every half hour from 6:30 am to 9:00 pm, documenting the movement of the sun from the perspective of the interior of the tunnel. Seeing the image in the context of the Schindler House, one also becomes hyper aware of how light fills this interior space.
California Sun Signs (1972) is a series of nineteen square-formatted, color photographs that feature the word "sun." The images document signs and illustrations that celebrate the marriage of California and the sun as the iconic source of its weather and the seductive qualities of its landscape. Installed in a loose grid, the images feel both current and dated. As gas today is upwards of $5.00 a gallon, the photograph of a "Sunland" gas station with prices at 35 and 33 cents takes us back in time. Images depicting the words Sunkist, Sundaes, Sunset Palms, N. Sunair Plaza, Sunbeam Inn, Sunshine Pre-school and even Sun Air Drugs take viewers on a focused journey through California's desert landscapes. These snap-shot style photographs highlight bright light and blue skies. In the advertisement for "Sunair Center" the letter "S" sits on top of a yellow sun below an arrow that points into the deep blue sky.
During my visit, the light was bright enough to make it almost impossible to see the projected video Sun Tunnels (1978) that documented the original installation of the work in Utah. Color reflections also overwhelmed two black and white photographs, Concrete Poem (1968) and Concrete Visions (1967). To see these prints one had to bob up and down, dodging one's own shadow as well as the reflection of the trees in the courtyard. While Schindler's architecture disrupted the viewing of Holt's pieces at that instant, it also called attention to the relationship between inside and outside, as well as how light changes over time: this was exactly what Holt was exploring in her large-scale earthworks. Like Schindler, she was interested in the process of looking, the poetics of light and shadow and the nuances of human perception. Together they become rich companions and counterparts.