Holt/Smithson Foundation, Monika Sprüth, and Philomene Magers are delighted to present Echoes & Evolutions: Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels, the first solo exhibition of the late artist (1938–2014) at the New York gallery. Holt’s large-scale earthwork Sun Tunnels is a landmark in the artist’s oeuvre and encapsulates her investigation of perception, systems, and site. Showcasing many previously unseen drawings, collages, photographs and two of her Studio Locator sculptures, this exhibition offers insight into the process and ideas behind the creation of Sun Tunnels.

Developed over a three-year period, Sun Tunnels (1973-76) is comprised of four concrete cylinders arranged in an X-formation in a remote valley in Utah's Great Basin Desert. Based on meticulous calculations, the tunnels are positioned precisely to frame the sun as it rises and sets during the summer and winter solstices—the longest and shortest days of the year. Configurations of circular holes puncture the concrete surfaces, and through them light emanating from the sun and moon cast projections of specific star constellations inside the tunnel interiors. The circle is a recurring shape in Holt’s oeuvre, which she uses to direct the gaze and evoke the continuous movement of celestial bodies.

Sun Tunnels (Position for holes for Perseus constellation) (1975) is one of the drawings that serves as a study for theses perforations. In selecting the respective constellation for each tunnel, Holt carefully chose star clusters of different magnitude, allowing for views from both inside and outside the tunnel. ‘With those criteria there were only a few constellations that I could use, and from them I chose Draco, Perseus, Columba, and Capricorn. Together, they encompass the globe—Columba is a Southern Hemisphere constellation which slips over the edge of the horizon for a short time each year, but can’t be seen because of the dense atmosphere near the Earth. Capricorn is visible in the fall and early winter, and is entered by the sun at the winter solstice. Draco and Perseus are always visible in the sky.’ (From Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels, originally published in Artforum, April 1977, Vol. 15 No. 8).

Echoes & Evolutions: Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels includes photographic material that reveal the development of Holt’s ideas for Sun Tunnels. Part of the process involved using cardboard tubes to model potential configurations, which she then 22 East 80th Street, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10075 P +1 917 722 2370 www.spruethmagers.com photographed to understand the shifting shadows and scale of the work. In these photo studies from 1975, Holt experimented with the layout of the tunnels, trying out sizes and configurations of the star constellations. On the back of each photo study are Holt’s annotations about the orientation, time, and constellation she was. Through this expansive series, patterns in her practice emerge that illustrate her systematic approach to making sculpture. This is emphasized again in Sunlight in Sun Tunnels and Sun Tunnels: Shifting Shadows (both 1976) in which Holt charted the evolving light and shadow at regular intervals over the course of one day respectively, bringing together the process into a single photographic composite.

Also on view are two of the artist’s Studio Locators: Locator (Exhaust Pipe) and Locator (Two Windows)—an earlier series from 1971 that show her consistent interest in light and location.. A simple structure made from a steel pipe mounted at eye-level, the Locators can be understood as a telescope without a lens, framing a particular field of vision in space. Holt’s Studio Locators focus on specific details and, when presented today, their position sustains her careful choice of locating vision, highlighting her interest in the sculptural forms of the often-overlooked systems in the built environment. Originally directed out of a window in Holt’s New York studio on Greenwich Street, the view from the Locator always features the architectural detail noted in the work title, here namely an exhaust pipe as well as two windows.