Jenny Holtzer
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Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American
neo-conceptual Neo-conceptual art describes art practices in the 1980s and particularly 1990s to date that derive from the conceptual art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. These subsequent initiatives have included the Moscow Conceptualists, United States neo-c ...
artist, based in Hoosick,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising
billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
s, projections on buildings and other structures, and illuminated electronic displays. Holzer belongs to the feminist branch of a generation of artists that emerged around 1980, and was an active member of Colab during this time, participating in the famous ''
The Times Square Show ''The Times Square Show'' was an influential collaborative, self-curated, and self-generated art exhibition held by New York artists' group Colab (aka Collaborative Projects, Inc) in Times Square in a shuttered massage parlor at 201 W. 41st and 7t ...
''.


Early life and education

Holzer was born on July 29, 1950 in Gallipolis, Ohio. Originally aspiring to become an abstract painter,Edward Lewine (December 16, 2009)
Art House
''
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''.
her studies included general art courses at
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
in Durham, North Carolina (1968–1970), and then painting, printmaking and drawing at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
before completing her BFA at
Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
, Athens, Ohio (1972). In 1974, Holzer took summer courses at the
Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...
, and entered its MFA program in 1975.Jenny Holzer
Tate Collection, London.
She moved to Manhattan in 1976, joined the Whitney Museum's independent study program and began her first work with language, installation and public art. She also was an active member of the artists group Colab.


Style, form and media

Holzer is known as a neo-conceptual artist. Most of her work is presented in public spaces and includes words and ideas, in the form of
word art Word art or text art is a form of art that includes text, forming words or phrases, as its main component; it is a combination of language and visual imagery. Overview There are two main types of word art: *One uses words or phrases because of t ...
(also known as text art.). The public dimension is integral to Holzer's work. Her large-scale installations have included advertising billboards, projections on buildings and other architectural structures, and illuminated electronic displays.
LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
signs have become her most visible medium, although her diverse practice incorporates a wide array of media including street posters, painted signs, stone benches, paintings, photographs, sound, video, projections, the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
, T-shirts for
Willi Smith Willi Donnell Smith (February 29, 1948 – April 17, 1987) was an American fashion designer. At the time of his death, Smith was regarded as one of the most successful African-American designers in the fashion industry. His company, WilliWe ...
, and a race car for BMW. Text-based light projections have been central to Holzer's practice since 1996. From 2010, her LED signs started becoming more sculptural. Holzer is no longer the author of her texts, and in the ensuing years, she returned to her roots by painting. Holzer’s only uses capital letters in her work and frequently words or phrases are italicized. She has stated before that this is because she wants to “show some sense of urgency and to speak a bit loudly." Holzer belongs to the feminist branch of a generation of artists that emerged around 1980, looking for new ways to make narrative or commentary an implicit part of visual objects. She was an active member of Colab during this time, participating in the famous ''
The Times Square Show ''The Times Square Show'' was an influential collaborative, self-curated, and self-generated art exhibition held by New York artists' group Colab (aka Collaborative Projects, Inc) in Times Square in a shuttered massage parlor at 201 W. 41st and 7t ...
''. Other female contemporaries include Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Sarah Charlesworth, and
Louise Lawler Louise Lawler (born 1947) is a U.S. artist and photographer living in Brooklyn, New York.Louise Lawler ...
. Roberta Smith (March 12, 2009)
Sounding the Alarm, in Words and Light
''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''.
The subject of Holzer’s work often relates to feminism and sexism. Her work discusses heavy subjects such as sexual assault against women. She has said that she gravitates towards subjects such as this due to family dysfunction she has experienced and because she claims “we don’t need work on joy.”


Works

Holzer's initial public works, ''Truisms'' (1977–79), are among her best-known. They first appeared as anonymous broadsheets that she printed in black italic script in capital letters on white paper and wheat-pasted to buildings, walls and fences in and around Manhattan. These one-liners are a distillation of an erudite reading list from the Whitney Independent Study Program, where she was a student. She printed other ''Truisms'' on posters, T-shirts and stickers, and carved them into stone benches. In late 1980, Holzer's mail art and street leaflets were included in the exhibition ''Social Strategies by Women Artists'' at London's
Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...
, curated by Lucy Lippard. In 1981, Holzer initiated the ''Living'' series, printed on aluminum and bronze plaques, the presentation format used by medical and government buildings. The ''Living'' series addressed the necessities of daily life: eating, breathing, sleeping, and human relationships. Her bland, short instructions were accompanied by paintings by American artist
Peter Nadin Peter Nadin (born 1954) is a British-born American artist, poet, and farmer. Early career Nadin was born in Bromborough, in northwest England He studied fine art at Newcastle upon Tyne University from 1972–76, before moving to New York. Fr ...
, whose portraits of men and women attached to metal posts further articulated the emptiness of both life and message in the information age. ''Inflammatory Essays'' was a work consisting of posters Holzer created from 1979 to 1982 and put up throughout New York. The statements on the posters were influenced by political figures including
Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
,
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
, and
Mao Tse-tung Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (P ...
. In 2018 an excerpt from that work was printed on a card stitched onto the back of the dress
Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...
wore to the
Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
; the excerpt read, "Rejoice! Our times are intolerable. Take courage, for the worst is a harbinger of the best. Only dire circumstance can precipitate the overthrow of oppressors. The old & corrupt must be laid to waste before the just can triumph. Contradiction will be heightened. The reckoning will be hastened by the staging of seed disturbances. The apocalypse will blossom." Others at the Grammys wore white roses or all-white clothes to express solidarity with the Time's Up movement; Lorde wrote, "My version of a white rose — THE APOCALYPSE WILL BLOSSOM — an excerpt from the greatest of all time, jenny holzer." The medium of modern computer systems became an important component in Holzer's work in 1982, when the artist installed her first large electronic sign on the Spectacolor board in New York's
Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
.Jenny Holzer, ''Untitled'' (1990)
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna.
Sponsored by the Public Art Fund program, the use of
light-emitting diode A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (cor ...
s (LEDs) allowed Holzer to reach a larger audience. The texts in her subsequent ''Survival'' series, compiled in 1983-85, speak to the great pain, delight, and ridiculousness of living in contemporary society. She began working with stone in 1986; for her exhibition that year at the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York, Holzer introduced a total environment where viewers were confronted with the relentless visual buzz of a horizontal LED sign and stone benches leading up to an electronic altar. Continuing this practice, her installation at the Guggenheim Museum in 1989 featured a 163-meter-long sign forming a continuous circle spiraling up a parapet wall. In 1989, Jenny Holzer released the ''Laments'' series to the
Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Ménil, Dominique de Menil and an h ...
in New York; this installation consisted of columns of colored lights and carved marble and granite tops that made up the laments. Holzer uses the passages she had read while being a part of the Whitney Independent Study Program by simplifying them for public consumption and applying them to her phrases. This series not only provokes thought in her audience through the constant reminder of death and sorrow but also exposes them to sources they normally wouldn’t come across. In an interview Holzer mentions that she uses the first person “I” simply to give the impression that a dead person is speaking and therefore make the installation more interesting to her audience. In ''Laments'' Jenny gave a voice to 13 different dead individuals, to say everything they might not have gotten the opportunity to while alive.  She touches on topics like motherhood, violation, pain, torture, and even death on a personal level to these 13 individual
.
Although ''Laments'' focuses mostly on the darkness of humanity and the tragedies we face daily there is also hidden optimism in the 13 laments. In 1989, Holzer became the second female artist chosen to represent the United States at the
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
in Italy ( Diane Arbus was the first, shown posthumously in 1972). At the 44th Biennale in 1990, her LED signboards and marble benches occupied a solemn and austere exhibition space in the American Pavilion; she also designed posters, hats, and T-shirts to be sold in the streets of Venice. The installation, ''Mother and Child'', won Holzer the Leone D'Oro for best pavilion. The original installation is retained in its entirety in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, the organizing institution for the American Pavilion at the 1990 Biennale. After taking a break from the art world, Holzer returned with controversy in 1993. Holzer came out with her ''Lustmord'' series, taking the title from the German word meaning "sex murder". Holzer created the series as a response of the Bosnian War, specifically the widespread rape and murder of women. The work feature three poems that retell sex crimes from the perspective of the victim, the observer, and the perpetrator. ''Lustmord'' has taken many different forms from texts written in blue, black, and red ink on the skin, to the ''Lustmord'' Table, a series of different bones of the body laid on a wooden table, with silver bands wrapped around them, engraved with the text of the three poems. While Holzer wrote the texts for the bulk of her work between 1977 and 2001, since 1993, she has mainly been using texts written by others, including literary texts from such authors as Polish Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska, Henri Cole (USA), Elfriede Jelinek (Austria),
Fadhil Al Azzawi Fadhil Al Azzawi (Arabic: فاضل العزاوي ; born 1940 in Kirkuk, Iraq) is an Iraqi writer highly respected in the Arab world, as he has published ten volumes of poetry, six novels, three books of criticism and memoir, and several translat ...
(Iraq), Yehuda Amichai (Israel), Mahmoud Darwish (Palestine), Khawla Dunia (Syria), and
Mohja Kahf Mohja Kahf ( ar, مهجة قحف, born 1967 in Damascus) is a Syrian-American poet, novelist, and professor. She authored ''Hagar Poems'' which won honorable mention in the 2017 Book Awards of the Arab American National Museum. She is the recip ...
(Syrian American). As of 2010, Holzer's work has been focused on government documents, concerning Iraq and the Middle East. Using texts from a very different context, more recent projects have involved the use of redacted government documents and passages from declassified U.S. Army documents from the war in Iraq. For example, a large LED work presents excerpts from the minutes of interrogations of American soldiers accused of committing human rights violations and war crimes in Abu Ghraib prison — making what was once secret public and exposing the "military-commercial-entertainment complex." Holzer's work often concerns violence, oppression, sexuality, feminism, power, war and death; the artist often utilizes the rhetoric of modern information systems to address the politics of discourse. Her main aim is to enlighten, illuminating something thought in silence and meant to remain hidden. Critic Samito Jalbuena has written that the artist's public use of language and ideas often creates shocking juxtapositions — commenting on sexual identity and gender relations (“Sex Differences Are Here To Stay”) on an unassuming New York movie theater marquee, for example — and sometimes extends to flights of formal outrage (such as “Abuse Of Power Comes As No Surprise” in lights over Times Square).


Selected works

* ''Living Series'' (early 1980s), using monumental media such as bronze plaques and billboards. * ''Under a Rock'' (1986), a series juxtaposing electronic messages with poetic phrases etched on stone benches and sarcophagi. * ''Laments'' (1989), a multi-media installation at the
Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Ménil, Dominique de Menil and an h ...
featuring 13 stone sarcophagi. * ''Da wo Frauen sterben, bin ich hellwach'' (1993), cover photograph and portfolio in edition number 46 of '' Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin''. * ''Please Change Beliefs'' (1995), an interactive work created for the
internet art upright=1.3, "Simple Net Art Diagram", a 1997 work by Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden Internet art (also known as net art) is a form of new media art distributed via the Internet. This form of art circumvents the traditional dominance of the phys ...
gallery adaweb, incorporating several of the artist's ''Truisms''. * ''Protect Me From What I Want'', the 15th work commissioned for the
BMW Art Car Project The BMW Art Car Project was introduced by the French racecar driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain, who wanted to invite an artist to create a canvas on an automobile. In 1975, Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to pain ...
. Painted on a
BMW V12 LMR The BMW V12 LMR is a Le Mans Prototype built for sports car racing from 1999 to 2000. The car was built through an alliance between BMW Motorsport and Williams F1, and was the successor to the failed BMW V12 LM of 1998. It is famous for earnin ...
, the titular refrain is written in metal foil and outlined with phosphorescent paint. Phrases written on the car's side-pods are "You are so complex, you don't respond to danger" and "The unattainable is invariably attractive". The car's rear wing reads "Lack of charisma can be fatal" and "Monomania is a prerequisite of success". The car was withdrawn from the
1999 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th 24 Hours of Le Mans, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1999. The race had a large number of entries in the fastest Le Mans Prototype classes, with Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lola Cars, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Pan ...
race, but saw active competition in the 2000 Petit Le Mans in the U.S., finishing fifth overall. * '' Terminal 5'' — In October 2004, the dormant
Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
-designed TWA Flight Center (now Jetblue T5) at John F. Kennedy International Airport hosted an art exhibition called ''Terminal 5'', curated by Rachel K. Ward and featuring the work of 18 artists. Holzer's work was displayed electronically on the terminal's original departures-arrivals board. She had wanted the work projected onto the building's exterior, but airport officials denied the request, saying the projection could interfere with runway operations. * ''For the City'' (2005), nighttime projections of declassified government documents on the exterior of
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...
's Bobst Library, and poetry on the exteriors of Rockefeller Center and the
New York Public Library Main Branch The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, commonly known as the Main Branch, 42nd Street Library or the New York Public Library, is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. T ...
in Manhattan This work has been cited as a significant example of
word art Word art or text art is a form of art that includes text, forming words or phrases, as its main component; it is a combination of language and visual imagery. Overview There are two main types of word art: *One uses words or phrases because of t ...
. * ''For Singapore'' (2006), projection on City Hall, Singapore on the occasion of the
Singapore Biennale The Singapore Biennale is a large-scale biennial contemporary art exhibition in Singapore, serving as the country’s major platform for international dialogue in contemporary art. It seeks to present and reflect the vigour of artistic practices in ...
2006 * ''For the Capitol'' (2007), nighttime projections of quotes by Presidents
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
and
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
about the role of art and
culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
in American society. Projected from the
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
onto the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
and Roosevelt Island in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
* ''I Was In Baghdad Ochre Fade''*, (2007), Oil-on-linen transcriptions of torture documents from the Iraq War; part of the
Renaissance Society The Renaissance Society, founded in 1915, is a leading independent contemporary art museum located on the campus of the University of Chicago, with a focus on the commissioning and production of new works by international artists. The kunsthalle- ...
2007 group show, "Meanwhile, In Baghdad…" * ''For SAAM'' (2007), Holzer's first cylindrical column of light and text, created from white electronic LEDs and featuring texts from four of the artist's series — ''Truisms'', ''Living'' (selections), ''Survival'' (selections) and ''Arno''; commissioned by the
Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...
. * ''Redaction Paintings'' (2008), reproducing declassified memos, with much of the text blacked out by censors. * ''For Leonard Cohen'' (2017)'','' a series of large-scale light projections on Silo no 5, one of Montréal's most iconic architectural structures., created in conjunction with the
Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
's exhibition ''Leonard Cohen – A Crack in Everything.'' The installation featured phrases from Leonard Cohen’s poems and songs, projected in both French and English for five nights only, starting on November 7, the first anniversary of Cohen's death, through November 11, 2017.


Permanent displays

* ''IT TAKES A WHILE BEFORE YOU CAN STEP OVER INERT BODIES AND GO AHEAD WITH WHAT YOU WERE TRYING TO DO. From The Living Series '' (1989), twenty-eight white granite benches with inscriptions, part of the
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is an park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States. It is located near the Walker Art Center, which operates it in coordination with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. It reopened June 10, 2017 af ...
* ''Installation for Aachen'' (Selections from the ''Truisms'' and other series) (1991),
Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst The Ludwig Forum for International Art is a museum for modern art in Aachen. It is based on the Ludwig Collection, which was brought together by the Aachen collector couple Irene and Peter Ludwig, and is supported by the Peter and Irene Ludwig Fou ...
, Aachen, Germany * ''Green Table'' (1992), a large granite picnic table with inscriptions, part of the
Stuart Collection The Stuart Collection is a collection of public art on the campus of the University of California San Diego. Founded in 1981, the Stuart Collection's goal is to spread commissioned sculpture throughout the campus, including both traditional sculpt ...
of public art on the campus of the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
* ''Installation for Schiphol'' (1995), permanent installation at
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...
, Amsterdam, the Netherlands * ''Erlauf Peace Monument'' (1995), outdoor installation with texts memorializing lives lost and peace gained in World War II in Erlauf, Austria * ''Allentown Benches'' (Selections from the ''Truisms'' and ''Survival'' series) (1995), United States Courthouse, Allentown * ''Installation for the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao'' (1997) Permanent Installation, located off the main room of the Guggenheim Bilbao, with tall LED columns of text in English (red, on the front side) and Basque (blue, on the back side) * ''Oskar Maria Graf Memorial'' (1997), Literaturhaus, Munich * ''Ceiling Snake'' (1997), 138 electronic LED signs with red diodes over 47.6 meters, permanently installed at the Hamburger Kunsthalle * ''Bench'' (From the ''Survival'' Series of 8 benches) (1997), bench made of green marble at the Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College; Portuguese inscription: NUM SONHO VOCE ENCONTROU UM JEITO DE SOBREVIVER E SE ENCHEU DE ALEGRIA. (IN A DREAM YOU SAW A WAY TO SURVIVE AND YOU WERE FULL OF JOY.) * ''Truisms'' selections on permanent LED displays and carved into stone benches outside of Gordy Hall on the campus of
Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
, Athens, Ohio, installed 1998 * There is a permanent LED sign along the top of the Telenor building in Oslo, Norway, installed in 2002. * ''Untitled'' (1999), installation for Isla de Esculturas, Pontevedra, Spain * ''Blacklist'' (1999), permanent installation composed of 10 stone benches with engraved quotes from ''
The Hollywood Ten ''The Hollywood Ten'' is a 1950 American 16mm short documentary film. In the film, each member of the Hollywood Ten made a short speech denouncing McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklisting. The film was directed by John Berry. After being na ...
'' located in front of the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
's
Fisher Museum of Art USC Fisher Museum of Art, formerly USC Fisher Gallery, which is affiliated with the University of Southern California, is the first art museum established in the city of Los Angeles. Founded in 1939 by Elizabeth Holmes Fisher, she donated 29 paint ...
* ''Historical Speeches'' (1999), 4-sided electronic LED sign with amber diodes, permanently installed at the Reichstag, Berlin; the piece displays a selection of speeches given in the Reichstag and
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
, and plays for 12 days without repeating itself * The '' Black Garden of Nordhorn,'' the artist was commissioned to redesign a memorial to the fallen of Germany's three previous wars, including World War II. Next to the existing monolithic monument, she designed a circular garden consisting of concentric rings of plantings and pathways. * ''Installation for the U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, Sacramento'' (1999), a collection of statements on law, justice, and truth gathered from various sources and inscribed on 99 paving stones on the ground floor of the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse in Sacramento, CA. * ''Wanås Wall'' (2002), inscriptions on stones on the grounds of
Wanås Castle Wanås Castle (; sv, Wanås slott) is an estate in Östra Göinge Municipality, Scania, in southern Sweden. It is situated to the west of Knislinge, approximately north of Kristianstad. Wanås exhibitions Since 1987, contemporary art with a fo ...
, Knislinge, Sweden * ''Serpentine'' (2002), electronic LED sign with blue diodes, permanently installed at the Toray Building, Osaka * ''Untitled'' (2002), installation at University of Agder, Gimlemoen, Norway * '' 125 Years'' (2003), a site work at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, celebrating 125 years of women at University of Pennsylvania * ''For Pittsburgh'' (2005), Holzer's largest LED project in the United States boasting 688 feet of blue LED tubes attached to two edges of the roof of the
David L. Lawrence Convention Center The David L. Lawrence Convention Center (DLLCC) is a convention, conference and exhibition building in downtown Pittsburgh in the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is served by two exits on Interstate 579. The initial David L. Lawrence ...
, Pittsburgh * ''For Elizabeth'' (2006), permanent outdoor work for the
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
campus consisting of twenty backless and armless granite benches, inscribed with the poetry of alumna and Pulitzer Prize-winner
Elizabeth Bishop Elizabeth Bishop (February 8, 1911 – October 6, 1979) was an American people, American poet and short-story writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956, the N ...
* ''For 7 World Trade'' (2006), permanent LED installation in the 65-foot-wide, 14-foot-high wall in the lobby of
7 World Trade Center 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC, WTC-7, or Tower 7) refers to two buildings that have existed at the same location within the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The original structure, part of the original World Trade Cent ...
* ''For Novartis'' (2006/07), permanent LED installation at
Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...
HQ, Basel, Switzerland * ''For MCASD'' (2007), permanent LED installation on the façade of the Copley Building at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Downtown * ''VEGAS'' (2009), LED installation commissioned for the parking lot of Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas * ''Bench'' (2011), marble bench at
Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
; English inscription: "Stupid people shouldn’t breed." / "It’s crucial to have an active fantasy life." * ''715 Molecules'' (2011), commissioned installation at
Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
consisting of a 16 ½ -foot long and 4-foot wide stone table and four benches, the surfaces of which have been sandblasted with 715 unique molecules * New York City AIDS Memorial (2016), granite pavers with lines from Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" * ''For Philadelphia'' (2018), permanent installation at the Comcast Technology Center, Philadelphia, PA


Mixed media screen prints

At the
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ar ...
in 2007, Holzer presented a series of mixed media silk-screen prints; each of the 15 same-size, medium-large canvases, stained purple or brown, bears an all-black, silk-screened reproduction of a PowerPoint diagram used in 2002 to brief President Bush,
Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Presi ...
and others on the United States Central Command's plan for invading Iraq. Holzer found these documents at the Web site of the independent, nongovernmental
National Security Archive The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy. The Nat ...
(nsarchive.org), which obtained them through the
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...
, and has used them as source material for her work since 2004. Other paintings depict confessions or letters from prisoners of all kinds and their families (parents pleading that the Army discharge rather than court-martial their sons); autopsy and interrogation reports; or exchanges concerning torture, as well as prisoners’ handprints and maps of Baghdad. The censor's marks are unmodified and the large sections of obscured text leave only sentence fragments or single words, echoes of the original content.Jenny Holzer: THE FUTURE PLEASE, September 13 - November 3, 2012
L&M Arts, Los Angeles.
Holzer concentrates on documents that have been partially or almost completely redacted with censor's marks. Based on a declassified report on US special forces' activity at a base in
Gardez , settlement_type =City , image_skyline =gardez_paktya.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption =The Bala Hesar fortress in the center of Gardez City , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_sea ...
, Afghanistan, a 2014 series of paintings explores the story of Jamal Nasser, an 18-year-old Afghan soldier who died in US military custody.


Dance

Holzer's first dance project was in 1985, “Holzer Duet … Truisms” with
Bill T. Jones William Tass Jones, known as Bill T. Jones, (born February 15, 1952) is an American choreographer, director, author and dancer. He is the co-founder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Jones is Artistic Director of New York Live Ar ...
. In 2010, she collaborated with choreographer Miguel Gutierrez for the Co-Lab series at the
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. The museum was founded as the Boston Museum of Modern Art in 1936. Since then it has gone through multiple na ...
. There were 10 dancers who performed in a room in which Holzer's words were projected along the walls.


Publications by Holzer

* ''A Little Knowledge'' (1979) * ''Black Book'' (1980) * ''Hotel'' (with Peter Nadin, 1980) * ''Living'' (with Nadin, 1980) * ''Eating Friends'' (with Nadin, 1981) * ''Eating Through Living'' (with Nadin, 1981) * ''Truisms and Essays'' (1983) Jenny Holzer
Guggenheim Collection.
* ''The Venice Installation'' (1990) * ''Die Macht des Wortes ='' (2006)


Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions of Holzer's work have been held in institutions such as the
Fondation Beyeler The Beyeler Foundation or Fondation Beyeler with its museum in Riehen, near Basel ( Switzerland), owns and oversees the art collection of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler, which features modern and traditional art. The Beyeler Foundation museum includes a ...
in Riehen/Basel and the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...
, New York (2009), and the
Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...
, Chicago (2008). Other solo shows include
Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...
, London (1988);
Dia Art Foundation Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Ménil, Dominique de Menil and an h ...
, New York (1989); Guggenheim Museum, New York (1989);
Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...
, Minneapolis (1991); Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg (2000);
Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its ...
, Berlin (2001, 2011); Barbican Art Gallery, London (2006);
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (also known simply as (the) Baltic, stylised as BALTIC) is a centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It hosts a frequently changing variety ...
, Gateshead (2010), and DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art (2010). She has also participated in
Documenta 8 documenta 8 was the eighth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 12 June and 20 September 1987 in Kassel, West Germany. The artistic director was Manfred Schneckenburger.documenta 8 Katalog: Ba ...
, Kassel (1987), as wells in group exhibitions in major institutions such as the
Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
, Den Bosch, The Nederlands, the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
, New York. Holzer will participate in the 9th
Gwangju Biennale The Gwangju Biennale is a contemporary art biennale founded in September 1995 in Gwangju, South Jeolla province, South Korea. The Gwangju Biennale is hosted by the Gwangju Biennale Foundation and the city of Gwangju. The Gwangju Biennale Founda ...
(2012). According to the website for the 2015 ' Dismaland' art installation led by Banksy, Holzer contributed works to the project. Holzer had several solo exhibitions in the past several years. In 2014 her work was in ''Jenny Holzer: Projecto Parede'' at the Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM) of São Paulo in Brazil in 2014 as well as ''Jenny Holzer: Dust Paintings'' at Cheim & Read in Chelsea, New York which exemplified her use of government documents as a source for her work. In 2015 she was in ''Jenny Holzer: Softer Targets'' at the Hauser & Wirth, Somerset in Bruton, UK which featured new work and other pieces from the past three decades. Also in 2015 she had a solo exhibition at the Barbara Kreakow Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts as well as ''War Paintings'' at Museo Correr in Venice, Italy. Then in the winter of 2016-17 at Alden Projects in New York, Holzer had the solo exhibition ''REJOICE! OUR TIMES ARE INTOLERABLE: Jenny Holzer’s Street Posters, 1977-1982'', which showed her language-based posters that were pasted on the streets of New York. ''Jenny Holzer and
Christian Lemmerz Christian Lemmerz (born January 30, 1959) is a German-Danish Sculpture, sculptor and Visual arts, visual artist who attended the Accademia di Belle Arti in Carrara, Italy, from 1978 to 1982 and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1983 to 198 ...
: Lust'' was an exhibition on view from February 2017 to May 2017 at the
Randers Kunstmuseum Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
and Joseph Beuys, among others, in the exhibition ''Creature at The Broad'' in Los Angeles California from November 2016 to March 2017. In February 2017 she was also in the ''Palm Springs Popup'' exhibition at Ikon, Ltd., in Santa Monica alongside artists such as Richard Prince, Ellsworth Kelly, and Bruce Nauman. From January 2017 through February 2017 she was in the ''Fischl, Holzer, Prince, Salle, Sherman'' exhibition at the Skarstedt Gallery in Chelsea, New York. Also, in the summer of 2016, Holzer was included in ''THE EIGHTIES: A Decade of Extremes'' exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp in Belgium which explored the New York art scene in the eighties. In 2018, Holzer had the exhibition ''Artist Rooms: Jenny Holzer'' at
Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...
in London. She has the entire second floor of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (nine galleries) from March 22 to September 9, 2019 for "Zera deskribaezina" (It is irreversible). Holzer is one of six artist-curators who made selections for ''Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection'', on view at the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
from May 24, 2019 through January 12, 2020.


Recognition

In addition to winning the
Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...
for her work at the 1990 Venice Biennale, Holzer has received several other prestigious awards, including the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
's Blair Award (1982); the Skowhegan Medal for Installation (1994); the Crystal Award from the
World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
(1996); the Berlin Prize fellowship (2000); the
Order of Arts and Letters The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...
diploma of Chevalier from the French government (2002) and the
Barnard Medal of Distinction The following is a list of notable individuals associated with Barnard College through attendance as a student, service as a member of the faculty or staff, or award of the Barnard Medal of Distinction. Notable alumnae Academics and scientists ...
(2011). In 2010, Holzer received the Distinguished Women in the Arts Award from the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's o ...
(MOCA). The annual award – recognizing women for their leadership and innovation in the visual arts, dance, music, and literature – is a bronze plaque originally designed by the artist in 1994, featuring one of her ''Truisms'': “It is in your self-interest to find a way to be very tender.” Holzer also holds honorary degrees from
Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
, the
Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...
,
The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
, and
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
. In 2018 she was selected as a new member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.


Personal life

In the early 1980s Holzer bought a farm in Hoosick,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. and began dividing her time between there and a loft on Eldridge Street in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. She sold the loft in the late 1990s but still maintains a studio in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Kiki Smith (May 2012)
Jenny Holzer
''
Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
''.
Her private art collection includes works by
Alice Neel Alice Neel (January 28, 1900 – October 13, 1984) was an American visual artist, who was known for her portraits depicting friends, family, lovers, poets, artists, and strangers. Her paintings have an expressionistic use of line and color, psyc ...
, Kiki Smith, Nancy Spero, and
Louise Bourgeois Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (; 25 December 191131 May 2010) was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored a varie ...
.


See also

*
Art & Language Art & Language is a conceptual artists' collaboration that has undergone many changes since it was created in the late 1960s. The group was founded by artists who shared a common desire to combine intellectual ideas and concerns with the creati ...
* Barbara Kruger * Martin Firrell *
Vectors Journal of Culture and Technology in a Dynamic Vernacular ''Vectors: Journal of Culture and Technology in a Dynamic Vernacular'' is a peer-reviewed online academic journal published by the USC School of Cinematic Arts. It was established in March 2005 and covers the digital humanities, publishing work th ...
* Sprüth Magers Berlin London * Robert Montgomery


References


Further reading


"Blue light special of a different kind tells a good story"
''Post-Gazette.'' July 20, 2005.
"Ground Zero’s Saving Grace"
Installation at
7 World Trade Center 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC, WTC-7, or Tower 7) refers to two buildings that have existed at the same location within the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The original structure, part of the original World Trade Cent ...
. ''Metropolis Magazine.''
Jenny Holzer.
designboom.com. January 2005.
Jenny Holzer biography.
from '' Art:21 -- Art in the Twenty-First Century,''
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
, 2007.
Jenny Holzer Exhibit
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
"Jenny Holzer: Protect Protect
" Sunday Arts program. New York City: ''PBS''.
''Jenny Holzer: Protect Protect''
Whitney Museum of American Art. March 12–May 31, 2009
Jenny Holzer
Video Data Bank
''Please Change Beliefs''
Walker Art.

''zingmagazine.'' Issue #20. * Walleston, Amiee
"Now Showing | Jenny Holzer"
The New York Times ''TMagazine.'' April 20, 2009. *


External links

*
Replica of the Truisms signage shown at Dismaland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holzer, Jenny 1950 births Living people American conceptual artists Women conceptual artists Rhode Island School of Design alumni Ohio University alumni Feminist artists People from Gallipolis, Ohio American multimedia artists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Performance art in New York City Artists from Ohio People from Hoosick, New York 20th-century American women artists Franklin Furnace artists Honorary Members of the Royal Academy 21st-century American women artists Artists from New York (state) American feminists Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters