Heinz Mack
(b.1931)
Born in Lollar, Mack moved to Düsselldorf in 1949, where he studied painting at the Düsseldorf Academy from 1950-53. He had his first solo exhibition in 1957 at the Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf. Between 1956-8 he painted monochrome canvases with parallel lines, creating his first aluminium light reliefs in 1958. He is most renowned as one of the founder members of the ZERO Group. Founded in 1957 along with Otto Piene, and later Gunther Uecker, ZERO aimed to break with all artistic practices that had taken place before, prioritising light, movement and space. The group organised a number of experimental evening exhibitions in the Studio in Gladbacher Straße, Düsseldorf, and published three editions of the magazine ZERO, before disbanding in 1966. From 1959 Mack made reliefs with light columns as well as motorised elements. Mack was 52 honoured with the 1st Prix Arts Plastiques of the 4th Biennale de Paris in 1965 and had a number of public commissions in the 1980s including the Jürgen-Ponto-Platz in Frankfurt in 1981.