Jenny Holzer, a creative inspiration and force to be reckoned with.

by | Jul 22, 2015 | People + things that inspire us

I have recently become acquainted with Jenny Holzer. She was a neo-conceptualist born in 1950 whose articulate art forms were type and language. 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. I am in love with her work.

“I used language because I wanted to offer content that people—not necessarily art people—could understand,” said Holzer.

Jenny spoke the language of truisms which has been described this way:

“The language of Truisms, obdurate and internally consistent, heralded a voice that is striking not least for its paradoxical anonymity. Truisms pull no punches and as the title suggests, seem to reflect wisdom long since received.”

Hal Foster, writing in 1982, called Trusims “verbal anarchy in the streets.” In an article that linked Holzer with Barbara Kruger, Foster cited Roland Barthes, articulating that, both artists embody Barthes’ notion of the writer, which as Barthes described, is “not the possessor of a function or the servant of an art, but the subject of praxis. Someone who must have the persistence of a watcher who stands at the crossroads of all other discourses.” Holzer stated “I wanted to highlight those thoughts and topics that polarize people, but not choose sides.” In 1990 Holzer summarized her work this way:  “I hope that my work is useful.” (Cited from: http://free-parking.tumblr.com/post/45971096847/commovente-jenny-holzer-times-square-sign)

While Holzer has relied extensively on poetry and pronouncements from others, using heartening material on war and refugees as well as potent political jargon, perhaps some of her most career-defining aphoristic messages (truisms) have been her own. In 1977 she began an ongoing series of Truisms (Deviants are sacrificed to increase group solidarity; Money creates taste; Don’t run people’s lives for them; Romantic love was invented to manipulate women) that cogently (powerfully, persuasively) pared down European and American enlightened thought, co-opted the tone and concision of authority, and disseminated through an endless supply of cultural channels—from baseball hats to billboards.

Holzer’s art had a participatory effect. Arranged in alphabetical order and comprised of short sentences, her “Truisms” inspired pedestrians to scribble messages on the posters and make verbal comments. Holzer would stand close by and listen to the dialogues invoked by her words. (Cited from http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/jenny-holzer/print/)

View some of Holzer’s work here:
http://ohmyjennyholzer.tumblr.com/
http://projects.jennyholzer.com/
http://www.skarstedt.com/artists/jenny-holzer/#/images/2/