Michael Heizer

(American, b. 1944)

Circle, 1976
(Eight pieces that can be arranged in different ways)
Rosewood
2.25 x 24.125 x 24.125 in.
Gift of James G. Pepper, Class of 1965

Though uncharacteristically diminutive for Michael Heizer, who is best known for his monumental, site-specific earthworks, Circle still reflects the artist’s interest in geometrical shapes and forms. This piece consists of eight, carved wood blocks that visitors can arrange into a circular form, as suggested in the title, or choose to build, stack, deconstruct, and rebuild the blocks into other shapes and structures. The creative process invites visitors to think abstractly. A puzzle with innumerable possibilities for arrangement, the work suggests the potential of collective creativity and problem-solving.

Biography

Heizer is a multidisciplinary visual artist and pioneer of the land art movement. Largely self-taught, he studied briefly at the San Francisco Art Institute (1964). Since the 1960s, Heizer's work has been widely exhibited in international museums and galleries, including Gagosian and David Zwirner in New York and Ace Gallery in Los Angeles; Dia:Beacon in the Hudson River Valley; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna; and Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona; among others. Heizer represented the United States at the 1997 Venice Biennale. He currently resides In Garden City, Nevada.

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