Robert Smithson, Amarillo Ramp  (1973)
Tecovas Lake, Amarillo, Texas
Diameter: 140 ft. (42.7 m)
Height: Ground level to 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Photograph: Gianfranco Gorgoni

© Holt/Smithson Foundation, Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

The earth and rock circle of Smithson's Amarillo Ramp spiraling out of the earth.

Robert Smithson, Amarillo Ramp  (1973)
Tecovas Lake, Amarillo, Texas
Diameter: 140 ft. (42.7 m)
Height: Ground level to 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Photograph: Gianfranco Gorgoni

© Holt/Smithson Foundation, Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

Robert Smithson, Amarillo Ramp  (1973)
Tecovas Lake, Amarillo, Texas
Diameter: 140 ft. (43 m)
Height: Ground level to 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Photography: Gianfranco Gorgoni

© Holt/Smithson Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

The earth and rock circle of Smithson's Amarillo Ramp spiraling out of the earth.

Robert Smithson, Amarillo Ramp  (1973)
Tecovas Lake, Amarillo, Texas
Diameter: 140 ft. (43 m)
Height: Ground level to 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Photography: Gianfranco Gorgoni

© Holt/Smithson Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

Robert Smithson, Amarillo Ramp  (1973)
Tecovas Lake, Amarillo, Texas
Diameter: 140 ft. (43 m)
Height: Ground level to 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Photography: Gianfranco Gorgoni

© Holt/Smithson Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

The earth and rock circle of Smithson's Amarillo Ramp spiraling out of the earth.

Robert Smithson, Amarillo Ramp  (1973)
Tecovas Lake, Amarillo, Texas
Diameter: 140 ft. (43 m)
Height: Ground level to 15 ft. (4.6 m)
Photography: Gianfranco Gorgoni

© Holt/Smithson Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

Richard Serra, Nancy Holt, and Tony Shafrazi posing for a photo after the completion of Smithson's Amarillo Ramp, 1973.

© Holt/Smithson Foundation, Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

The earth and rock circle of Smithson's Amarillo Ramp spiraling out of the earth.

Richard Serra, Nancy Holt, and Tony Shafrazi posing for a photo after the completion of Smithson's Amarillo Ramp, 1973.

© Holt/Smithson Foundation, Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

1971—1973

Amarillo Ramp

Robert Smithson
1973
Lake Tecovas, Amarillo, Texas
Rocks, earth
Diameter: 140 ft. (42.7 meters); Maximum height: 15 ft. (4.6 meters)
© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York

Constructed to emerge from the base of an artificial lake, ​Amarillo Ramp ​now lies in a dried-up basin, its original structure altered by erosion. It is Smithson’s final earthwork; while surveying the site in 1973, Smithson was killed in a plane crash alongside pilot Gale Ray Rogers and photographer Robert E. Curtin. The sculpture was posthumously completed by Nancy Holt and artists Tony Shafrazi and Richard Serra. Overgrown with mesquite, its once-defined edges sloping into the earth, ​Amarillo Ramp i​s a solemn illustration of entropy. Continued efforts for its restoration and preservation as a ruin speak to the lasting impact of Smithson’s legacy.

 Click here for details on how to visit Amarillo Ramp.

Related Info

1973—1976
A person looking through a film camera on a tripod, overlooking a dry lakebed.
The Making of Amarillo Ramp
Nancy Holt
1973/2013
1973—1976

The Making of Amarillo Ramp  documents the construction of Robert Smithson's earthwork Amarillo Ramp.  At age thirty-five, while photographing  the site of the earthwork in progress, Smithson died in a small airplane accident, along with pilot Gale Ray Rogers and photographer Robert E. Curtin. After Smithson's passing, Nancy Holt, Richard Serra, and Tony Shafrazi completed Amarillo Ramp according to Smithson's specifications.

See Also