Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)
Installation view: Bykert Gallery, New York City, 1974
Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light
Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m)
Mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter each

Holt's Mirrors of Light installed in a gallery

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I [detail] (1974)
Installation view: Bykert Gallery, New York City, 1974
Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light
Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m)
Mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter each

a closeup of a circular mirror, which reflects the back corner of a room with white walls and no windows

Holt's Mirrors of Light installed in a room

circular orbs of light reflected on two white walls of a room with no windows

a closeup of a line of circular mirrors hung on a white wall

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)
Installation view: Nancy Holt, Dia:Chelsea, New York, 2018
Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light
Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m)
Mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter each
Photograph: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York

Room with white walls and concrete floor. Light on right wall. 10 circular small mirrors on the back wall. Circular light reflections from the mirrors on the left wall.

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I [detail] (1974)
Installation view: Nancy Holt, Dia:Chelsea, New York, 2018
Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light
Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m)
Mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter each
Photograph: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York

Two white walls meeting a white ceiling with three small round mirrors on the right side and reflected circular light on the left side.

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)
Installation view: Nancy Holt, Dia:Chelsea, New York, 2018
Photograph: Don Stahl

Woman looking at small circular mirrors on wall as part of Mirrors of Light I.

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)
Installation view: Nancy Holt, Dia:Chelsea, New York, 2018
Photograph: Don Stahl

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)

Installation view: Nancy Holt: Mirrors of Light, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany, 2021

Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light

Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m); mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter

Photograph: Ingo Kniest

a room with light reflected from a diagonal line of mirrors

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)

Installation view: Nancy Holt: Mirrors of Light, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany, 2021

Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light

Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m); mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter

Photograph: Ingo Kniest

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)

Installation view: Nancy Holt: Mirrors of Light, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany, 2021

Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light

Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m); mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter

Photograph: Ingo Kniest

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)

Installation view: Nancy Holt: Mirrors of Light, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany, 2021

Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light

Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m); mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter

Photograph: Ingo Kniest

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)

Installation view: Nancy Holt: Mirrors of Light, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany, 2021

Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light

Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m); mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter

Photograph: Ingo Kniest

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)

Installation view: Nancy Holt: Mirrors of Light, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany, 2021

Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light

Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m); mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter

Photograph: Ingo Kniest

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)

Installation view: Nancy Holt: Mirrors of Light, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany, 2021

Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light

Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m); mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter

Photograph: Ingo Kniest

Nancy Holt, Mirrors of Light I (1974)

Installation view: Nancy Holt: Mirrors of Light, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, Germany, 2021

Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light

Overall dimensions: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m); mirrors: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) diameter

Photograph: Ingo Kniest

1973—1976

Mirrors of Light I

Nancy Holt

1974

Bykert Gallery, New York City

Ten mirrors, 650 watt quartz light

Overall: 11 x 20 x 28 ft. (3.4 x 6.1 x 8.5 m); mirror diameter 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm)

Collection Holt/Smithson Foundation

First shown ay the Bykert Gallery in New York in 1974, Mirrors of Light I consists of a spotlight directed at a diagonal row of mirrors; the resulting refractions form ellipses of varying size and proportion that are projected across the gallery walls. Holt was interested in using light as a medium, while simultaneously examining it as subject matter in its own right. In this single gallery setting, light is a conceptual entity and a physical reality, a practical resource and an aesthetic object. As is the case with the majority of Holt’s oeuvre, Mirrors of Light I creates an opportunity for self-examination through the perceptions that arise in the face of her work.

In 1974, Holt created Mirrors of Light II for the Walter Kelly Gallery in Chicago. Both room-sized installations are unique works, and are presented in spaces the same size as their original showing.

Mirrors of Light I

Related Info

See Also