"Groundswell: Women of Land Art" opens at the Nasher Sculpture Center

This weekend the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas launches the exhibition Groundswell: Women of Land Art.  The exhibition features a number of significant works by Nancy Holt, including the first posthumous presentation of Pipeline (1986).

Holt created the System Work Pipeline in response to time spent in Alaska observing the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in 1986 at the invitation of the Visual Arts Center of Alaska. The installation consists of steel duct—meant to evoke the massive pipeline that winds its way through the Alaskan landscape—which here originates outside the front entrance to the Nasher Sculpture Center, snakes through the main entrance gallery, and ultimately terminates in the outdoor sculpture garden. One section of Pipeline drips oil that forms a dark reflective pool, reminding us, as Holt writes, "more frequently than most people realize, breakdowns occur—pipes crack or rust out, oil spills."

In addition to Pipeline, there are several other Holt works on view in Groundswell which illustrates her continued engagement with Land art throughout her life, including previously unexhibited drawings related to Sun Tunnels (1973-76), a scale model for Sun Tunnels, the film Sun Tunnels (1978), and Locator P.S.1 (1980). On view in the downstairs galleries are drawings that relate to Holt's later public projects, including Sky Mound (1984—) and Dark Star Park (1979-84).

Curated by Nasher Associate Curator Dr. Leigh A. Arnold and organized by the Nasher Sculpture Center, Groundswell: Women of Land Art is on view from September 23, 2023 through January 7, 2024. Learn more about the exhibition here.

Nancy Holt, Pipeline [outdoor view] (1986)

Visual Arts Center of Alaska, Anchorage

Steel, oil

Overall Dimensions: 30 x 32 x 15 ft. (9.1 x 9.8 x 4.6 m) (indoor section); 26 x 15 x 6 ft. (7.9 x 4.6 x 1.8 m) (outdoor section #1); 10 x 31 x 18 ft. (3 x 9.5 x 5.5 m) (outdoor section #2)

Steel duct 1 ft. (30.5 cm) diameter

Archived News

Smithson's Spiral Jetty film on view at Neue Nationalgalerie

We are happy to share that Robert Smithson's film Spiral Jetty (1970) is currently on view at Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Germany. This marks the first time that the recently completed high-resolution scan of Spiral Jetty has been shown in Europe. The film was digitized from the original 16mm film in 2024 by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, following the gift of this material by Holt/Smithson Foundation. 

Nancy Holt: Power Systems opens at the Wex

We are delighted to announce that Nancy Holt: Power Systems is now on view at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus Ohio. The solo exhibition features the most extensive inquiry to date into Nancy Holt's studies of systems, focusing on her interactive site-responsive sculptural installations that expose the basic technological systems found in the built environment.