Heinz Mack (born 8 March 1931) is a German artist. Together with

Otto Piene Otto Piene (, 18 April 1928 – 17 July 2014) was a German-American artist specializing in kinetic art, kinetic and technology-based art, often working collaboratively. He lived and worked in Düsseldorf, Germany; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and G ...

he founded the ZERO movement in 1957. He exhibited works at

documenta Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

in 1964 and 1977 and he represented Germany at the 1970

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. He is best known for his contributions to

op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op ...

light art Light art or the art of light is generally referring to a visual art form in which (physical) light is the main, if not sole medium of creation. Uses of the term differ drastically in incongruence; definitions, if existing, vary in several aspe ...

and

kinetic art Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...

Biography

Heinz Mack was born in 1931 in the small town of

Lollar Lollar () is a town in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, in west-central Germany. It is situated on the river Lahn, 7 km north of Gießen. The biggest production site of Bosch Thermotechnology is located in Lollar. During World War II, i ...

in Germany. Between 1950 and 1956 he studied at the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Blinky Palermo, Ma ...

. In 1957 together with

he started a series of what were called ''Abendausstellungen'' (evening exhibitions) at their studio in Düsseldorf. This series was the initial event for the formation of the group ZERO (with Mack, Piene and

Günther Uecker Günther Uecker (; 13 March 1930 – 10 June 2025) was a German painter, sculptor, op artist, and installation artist. He became known primarily for his nail reliefs. In 1961, Uecker joined the Zero (art), ZERO group. Early life and education ...

as its nucleus) and the international ZERO movement. Among the participants of the ZERO movement were

Yves Klein Yves Klein (; 28 April 1928 – 6 June 1962) was a French artist and an important figure in post-war European art. He was a leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany. Klein wa ...

Lucio Fontana Lucio Fontana (; 19 February 1899 – 7 September 1968) was an Italian Argentines, Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor, and theorist. He is known as the founder of Spatialism and exponent of Abstract art, abstract painting as the f ...

Piero Manzoni Piero Manzoni di Chiosca e Poggiolo (July 13, 1933 – February 6, 1963) was an Italian artist best known for his ironic approach to avant-garde art. Often compared to the work of Yves Klein, his own work anticipated, and directly influenced ...

and

Jean Tinguely Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century.Chilvers, Ian; Gl ...

. In the early 1960s, Mack worked, with

Gotthard Graubner Gotthard Graubner (13 June 1930 – 24 May 2013) was a German painter, born in Erlbach, in Saxony, Germany. Graubner studied at the Academy of Arts, Berlin, the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts in Germany, bef ...

, as an art teacher at the Lessing Gymnasium, Düsseldorf. In 1964 Mack, Piene and Uecker arranged the "ZERO Lichtraum (Hommage á Lucio Fontana)" at the 1964

in Kassel. From 1964 to 1966 Mack lived and worked in New York, where the Howard Wise Gallery presented a solo exhibition in 1966. Although known for his

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

outdoor sculptures, Mack also produced smaller works, both static and kinetic. ''Light Dynamo #2 from 1966, in the collection of the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. It has one of the largest single co ...

, is an example of his rotating disc kinetic sculptures. Since 1991, he has been producing brightly colored, abstract, paintings in acrylic. 1970 Mack was invited as visiting professor to Osaka, Japan. In the same year he represented Germany at the 1970

(together with

Georg Karl Pfahler Georg Karl Pfahler (8 October 1926 – 6 January 2002) was the first German people, German hard edge painter, printmaker and sculptor, and one of the leading proponents of post-war color field painting in Germany and Europe. Biography After en ...

and Thomas Lenk). For the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in Munich he created an illuminated "Wasserwolke" (Water cloud). In 1972 he was asked to create a 230 ft tall sculpture for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

headquarters in New York (not realized).

Solo exhibitions

*1957: Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf *1966: Howard Wise Gallery, New York *1972: Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris *1972: Galerie

Denise René Denise René (born Denise Bleibtreu; June 1913 – 9 July 2012) was a French art gallerist specializing in kinetic art and op art. Life and work Denise René believed that art must invent new paths in order to exist. The first exhibitions organ ...

, New York *1977:

Kunsthalle Düsseldorf Kunsthalle Düsseldorf is an exhibition hall for contemporary art in Düsseldorf. Building The present art centre was built in 1967 in Brutalist architecture by the architects Konrad Beckmann and Brockes. They used commercially available preca ...

*1981: Galerie Lauter, Mannheim *1989: Galerie Neher, Essen *1992: Galerie Lauter, Mannheim *1993: Galerie Schoeller, Düsseldorf *1998: Liechtensteinische Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Vaduz *2001: Galerie Denise René, Paris *2001: Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Theran *2004: Galerie Geiger, Konstanz *2006: Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Düsseldorf *2006:

Pergamonmuseum The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of Emperor Wilhelm II and according to plans by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann in Strippe ...

and Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin *2009: Ludwig Museum, Koblenz *2022: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice

Gallery

Image:Heinz Mack by Lothar Wolleh.jpg, Heinz Mack by

Lothar Wolleh Lothar Wolleh (January 20, 1930 – September 28, 1979) was a well-known German photographer. Until the end of the sixties, Lothar Wolleh worked as a commercial photographer. He made portraits of international contemporary painters, sculptors ...

File:UBUniBwM.jpg, ''Sculpture for the Sky'' (1976), university library of the

Bundeswehr University of Munich Entrance to the university University of the Bundeswehr Munich (, UniBw München) is one of two research universities in Germany at federal level that both were founded in 1973 as part of the German Armed Forces (''Bundeswehr''). Originally call ...

Neubiberg Neubiberg is a municipality south-east of Munich, Germany, founded in 1912. It is part of the Munich district of Upper Bavaria. It used to have a military airport that was used as a Luftwaffe base in the Third Reich. After the war, it served as a ...

File:Muenster Wasserskulptur 7366.jpg, ''Water Sculpture'' (1977),

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

File:Columne pro Caelo - Heinz Mack.jpg, ''Columne pro Caelo'' (1984), Roncalliplatz,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

File:MackSkulptur.jpg, ''Großer Vertikaler Rhythmus'' (2008), LangenfeldStadt Langenfeld: Großer Vertikaler Rhythmus
Accessed 1 March 2016

Publications

* Heinz Mack. TRANSIT – zwischen Okzident und Orient. Faszination und Inspiration der Islamischen Kultur im Werk des Künstlers – ein Werkaspekt 1950-2006. Museum für Islamische Kunst, Pergamonmuseum, Berlin. Exhib.: 7 October 2006 – 21 January 2007. . * Heinz Mack – Licht der ZERO-Zeit. Ludwig Museum im Deutschherrenhaus, Koblenz. Exhib.: 30 August – 1 November 2009.

Footnotes

External links

ZERO foundation
ZERO foundation * Literature by and on Heinz Mac
Heinz Mack - Search Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mack, Heinz 1931 births Living people People from Giessen (district) German artists German contemporary artists Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni People from the People's State of Hesse