Jenny Holzer
Art is created to tell a story, to evoke an emotion, to bring about a point of view and leave some room for reflection. Jenny Holzer takes this quite literally through her work, incorporating words, phrases, and sentences into many of her pieces. In doing so, she is able to reveal the true portrayal behind her artwork, leaving little room for viewers' interpretation. Holzer's platform allows for some pretty hard and divisive topics to be brought forth and further expanded upon through discussion and debate. Her stance on the issues is quite clear as it is literally stated in words. Through her bold transparency, Holzer has gained much recognition and respect, most notably for her Truisms series. The series included nearly three hundred phrases of modern cliches, displayed on building walls and in telephone booths, allowing for her works and the messages they came with to be distributed to the public at large. As her projects grew, so did her platform. She eventually took her ideas to the big stage, revealing some of her greatest pieces in Times Square, New York.
Holzer discloses the reasoning behind her masterpieces, explaining, "I used language because I wanted to offer content that people -- not necessarily art people -- could understand." Every artist has a purpose and Holzer looked to make an impact on the greater population. Her use of words, usually very much short, concise, and to the point, were able to impress her viewers in ways that traditional art may not have.
In a world of art so consumed by the abstract, Holzer ran in the complete opposite direction, presenting the public with real, raw words. The unique and audacious nature of her work grasped the attention of the masses, not just art fanatics. Her work, if anything at all, brought rise to many modern issues. Jenny Holzer is indeed an artist, but I would argue her stance as a political activist and reformist as well.
Holzer has worked with a variety of mediums, including LED displays, large scale projections, posters and even t-shirts. Her works are displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. For a further look into Holzer's work, take a look at her page.
Holzer discloses the reasoning behind her masterpieces, explaining, "I used language because I wanted to offer content that people -- not necessarily art people -- could understand." Every artist has a purpose and Holzer looked to make an impact on the greater population. Her use of words, usually very much short, concise, and to the point, were able to impress her viewers in ways that traditional art may not have.
In a world of art so consumed by the abstract, Holzer ran in the complete opposite direction, presenting the public with real, raw words. The unique and audacious nature of her work grasped the attention of the masses, not just art fanatics. Her work, if anything at all, brought rise to many modern issues. Jenny Holzer is indeed an artist, but I would argue her stance as a political activist and reformist as well.
Holzer has worked with a variety of mediums, including LED displays, large scale projections, posters and even t-shirts. Her works are displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. For a further look into Holzer's work, take a look at her page.
Vigil, 2019
Truisms: UNEX sign, 1983
You Are My Own, 2002
Truth Before Power (portfolio of 4), 2004
I like the description of an artist you gave to us. We read artist stories from works of art. Artists use their works of art to express their feelings or attitudes towards life. It's very enjoying and meaningful to appreciate this artist's works of art. It's worth learning and researching more about this artist.
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