Michael Heizer (American, b. 1944)

45, 90, 180 degrees, 1983

Sixteen-color lithograph/screenprint/etching with rubber stamping
32 x 46 ½ in.

Michael Heizer is a pioneer of the Land Art movement and is known for his site-specific sculptures and environmental interventions that explore positive and negative space. Heizer’s massive triptych, 45°, 90°, and 180°, incorporates three pink granite slabs, each weighing several tons resting on giant concrete plinths.

According to Heizer, "The 45° element is dynamic, leaning, with the potential to continue to move. The 90° element is static, held in a static moment. All movement is arrested although it also has the potential for movement. The 180° element is inert. There is no potential for movement. The subject is therefore sculpture itself if sculpture is material." For Heizer, the work represents a delicate balance of art, mathematics, and physics.

Heizer’s works have been featured in various solo exhibitions, site-specific installations, notably at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2012) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (1985 and 2016), and are held in numerous private and public collections, including Dia Beacon, NY; the Museum of Modern Art, NY; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; the Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy; the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia; and the Menil Collection, Houston.

More information about Michael Heizer can be found here:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/29/michael-heizers-city

https://www.diaart.org/exhibition/exhibitions-projects/michael-heizer-exhibition

https://www.publicartinpublicplaces.info/public-art-levitated-mass-2012-by-michael-heizer