Jenny Holzer facts for kids

Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American artist known for her unique way of using words and ideas in public spaces. She lives in Hoosick, New York. Her art often includes large displays, messages on billboards, lights projected onto buildings, and electronic signs.

Holzer is part of a group of artists who became famous around 1980. She was also a member of a group called Colab and took part in the well-known Times Square Show.

She has received many important awards for her art. These include the Leone d'Oro (Golden Lion) at the 44th Venice Biennale in 1990 and the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in 1996. She also received the U.S. State Department's International Medal of Arts in 2017 and was recognized on the Time 100 list in 2024.

Becoming an Artist

Holzer was born on July 29, 1950, in Gallipolis, Ohio. She first wanted to be a painter. She studied art at Duke University and the University of Chicago. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from Ohio University in 1972.

After more studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), she moved to Manhattan in 1976. There, she joined the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program. This is when she started working with language, installations, and public art. She received her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from RISD in 1977.

Holzer's Artistic Style

Jenny Holzer is known for her "neo-conceptual" art. This means her art focuses on ideas and messages, often using words. Most of her work is shown in public places. She uses words and phrases to create "word art" or "text art."

The idea of showing art in public is very important to Holzer. Her big art pieces have included messages on billboards and projections on buildings. She also uses bright electronic displays. LED signs have become her most famous way of showing art.

Holzer uses only capital letters in her work. She often makes words or phrases italic. She explained that she does this to "show some sense of urgency and to speak a bit loudly."

Holzer is part of a group of female artists from the 1980s. These artists looked for new ways to include stories or comments in their visual art. Her art often explores serious topics like fairness and safety for everyone.

Famous Artworks

Art installation in the lobby at 7 WTC

A closer look at the 7 WTC installation

One of Holzer's most famous early works is Truisms (1977–79). These were short, thought-provoking statements. She first printed them on white paper in black italic letters. She then pasted them on buildings and walls around Manhattan. She also put Truisms on posters, T-shirts, and even carved them into stone benches.

In 1981, Holzer started the Living series. These messages were printed on metal plaques, like those found on government buildings. The Living series talked about everyday needs such as eating, breathing, and human relationships.

Inflammatory Essays was another work from 1979 to 1982. Holzer created posters with strong statements and put them up in New York. These statements were inspired by political thinkers. In 2018, a part of this work was printed on a card worn by singer Lorde at the Grammy Awards.

Light Lines at the Guggenheim Museum in 2024.

In 1982, Holzer started using modern computer systems in her art. She put her first large electronic sign on the Spectacolor board in Times Square, New York. Using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) helped her reach many more people. Her Survival series (1983–85) used texts about the joys and difficulties of modern life.

She began working with stone in 1986. For an exhibition, she created a space with a long LED sign and stone benches. In 1989, her art at the Guggenheim Museum featured a very long LED sign that spiraled up a wall. This installation was shown again by the Guggenheim in 2024 as Light Line.

In 1989, Jenny Holzer created the Laments series for the Dia Art Foundation in New York. This art piece used columns of colored lights and carved stone. The messages in Laments were simplified from her studies. They often reminded people about life's challenges and sorrows. Holzer used the word "I" to make it sound like a person who had passed away was speaking. This made the art more interesting.

In 1990, Holzer was chosen to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale in Italy. Her LED signs and marble benches were displayed in the American Pavilion. She also designed posters and T-shirts for sale in Venice. Her installation, Mother and Child, won her the Leone D'Oro award for best pavilion.

Since 1993, Holzer has often used texts written by other authors. These include writers from different countries. Since 2010, her work has focused on government documents. For example, some of her large LED works show parts of declassified U.S. Army documents. These pieces make secret information public, showing important details about difficult situations.

Holzer's art often deals with topics like power, war, and fairness. Her main goal is to bring hidden thoughts and realities into the open.

Selected Artworks

• Inflammatory Essays (1979–82): Posters with strong statements, originally pasted on New York City streets.
• Living Series (early 1980s): Messages on large bronze plaques and billboards.
• Under a Rock (1986): Electronic messages combined with poetic phrases carved into stone benches.
• Laments (1989): A multi-media art piece at the Dia Art Foundation with 13 stone sarcophagi.
• Please Change Beliefs (1995): An interactive online artwork using her Truisms.
• Protect Me From What I Want: The 15th car in the BMW Art Car Project. Holzer painted a BMW V12 LMR race car with phrases like "You are so complex, you don't respond to danger."
• Xenon for Bordeaux and Paris (2001 & 2009): Text projected onto famous landmarks, including the Louvre Pyramid.
• Terminal 5 (2004): Her work was shown electronically on the old departures board at the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
• For the City (2005): Nighttime projections of government documents and poetry on buildings in Manhattan.
• For Singapore (2006): A projection on City Hall, Singapore for the Singapore Biennale.
• For the Capitol (2007): Nighttime projections of quotes by Presidents John F. Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt about art's role in society.
• For SAAM (2007): Holzer's first tall column of light and text, made from white electronic LEDs. It features texts from her Truisms, Living, Survival, and Arno series.
• Redaction Paintings (2008): Paintings that show declassified memos with much of the text blacked out by censors.
• For Leonard Cohen (2017): Large light projections on Silo no 5 in Montréal, featuring phrases from Leonard Cohen's poems and songs.

Permanent Art Displays

Many of Jenny Holzer's artworks are on permanent display in public places around the world:

• 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 messages at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
• Installation for Aachen (1991): Selections from her Truisms and other series at the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Germany.
• Green Table (1992): A large granite picnic table with messages at the University of California, San Diego.
• Installation for Schiphol (1995): At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Netherlands.
• Erlauf Peace Monument (1995): An outdoor art piece in Erlauf, Austria, remembering lives lost in World War II.
• Allentown Benches (1995): Benches with messages from Truisms and Survival series at the United States Courthouse, Allentown.
• Installation for the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (1997): Tall LED columns of text in English and Basque at the Guggenheim Bilbao.
• Oskar Maria Graf Memorial (1997): At Literaturhaus, Munich.
• Ceiling Snake (1997): 138 electronic LED signs at the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
• Bench (1997): A green marble bench at the Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, with a Portuguese message.
• Truisms selections (1998): On LED displays and carved into stone benches at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
• A permanent LED sign (2002): Along the top of the Telenor building in Oslo, Norway.
• Blacklist (1999): 10 stone benches with quotes from The Hollywood Ten at the University of Southern California's Fisher Museum of Art.
• Historical Speeches (1999): A 4-sided electronic LED sign at the Reichstag, Berlin, showing speeches.
• The Black Garden of Nordhorn (1999): A circular garden designed by Holzer as a memorial in Nordhorn, Germany.
• Installation for the U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, Sacramento (1999): Statements on law and justice carved into 99 paving stones.
• Wanås Wall (2002): Messages on stones at Wanås Castle, Sweden.
• Serpentine (2002): An electronic LED sign at the Toray Building, Osaka.
• 125 Years (2003): A work at the University of Pennsylvania celebrating women at the university.
• For Pittsburgh (2005): Holzer's largest LED project in the U.S., on the roof of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
• For Elizabeth (2006): Outdoor granite benches with poetry by Elizabeth Bishop at Vassar College.
• For 7 World Trade (2006): A permanent LED installation in the lobby wall of 7 World Trade Center.
• For Novartis (2006–07): Permanent LED installation at Novartis HQ, Switzerland.
• For MCASD (2007): Permanent LED installation on the building of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
• VEGAS (2009): LED installation for the parking lot of Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas.
• Bench (2011): A marble bench at Barnard College with messages.
• 715 Molecules (2011): A stone table and benches with sandblasted molecules at Williams College.
• 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.

Mixed Media Screen Prints

In 2007, Holzer showed a series of mixed media prints at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. These prints were silk-screened reproductions of PowerPoint diagrams. These diagrams were used in 2002 to brief leaders like President Bush about plans for the Iraq War. Holzer found these documents online through the National Security Archive.

Other paintings show confessions or letters from prisoners and their families. They also include autopsy and interrogation reports. The censor's marks on the documents are kept, leaving only small parts of the original text visible. Holzer focuses on documents that have been mostly blacked out by censors.

Dance Collaborations

Holzer has also worked with dance. In 1985, she collaborated on "Holzer Duet ... Truisms" with Bill T. Jones. In 2010, she worked with choreographer Miguel Gutierrez. For this project, dancers performed in a room where Holzer's words were projected onto the walls.

Exhibitions and Recognition

Jenny Holzer's art has been shown in many important museums around the world. These include the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. She has also participated in major art events like Documenta 8 in Germany.

In recent years, her work has been featured in many solo exhibitions. These include Jenny Holzer: Projecto Parede in Brazil (2014) and Jenny Holzer: Dust Paintings in New York (2014). In 2015, she had exhibitions like Jenny Holzer: Softer Targets in the UK and War Paintings in Venice, Italy.

In 2016–17, her exhibition REJOICE! OUR TIMES ARE INTOLERABLE: Jenny Holzer's Street Posters, 1977–1982 showed her early language-based posters. Her work was also part of group exhibitions with famous artists like Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys. In 2019, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao dedicated nine galleries to her exhibition "Zera deskribaezina" (It is irreversible).

From May to September 2024, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York presented Jenny Holzer: Light Line.

Besides the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, Holzer has received many other awards. These include the Skowhegan Medal for Installation (1994) and the Berlin Prize fellowship (2000). She was also honored by France with the rank of officier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2016). In 2018, she became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In 2010, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) gave Holzer the Distinguished Women in the Arts Award. This award recognizes women for their leadership in visual arts, dance, music, and literature. The award itself is a bronze plaque designed by Holzer, featuring one of her Truisms: "It is in your self-interest to find a way to be very tender."

Holzer also has honorary degrees from several universities, including Williams College and the Rhode Island School of Design.

Personal Life

In the early 1980s, Holzer bought a farm in Hoosick, New York. She divided her time between the farm and her home in Manhattan. She now has a studio in Brooklyn. Her personal art collection includes works by artists like Alice Neel and Louise Bourgeois.

Holzer has said that she has a "repressed spirituality" and believes in applying "appropriate feeling that might make for sanity and better behavior." When asked if she considers herself a political artist, she explained that she sees herself as an artist who is also political. She believes art can help people understand and feel reality, which can then inspire them to act.

In 2024, Holzer was one of many artists who contributed pieces to "Artists for Kamala." This was an online sale where all the money raised went to Kamala Harris' political campaign.

See also

In Spanish: Jenny Holzer para niños

• Art & Language
• Barbara Kruger
• Martin Firrell
• Vectors Journal of Culture and Technology in a Dynamic Vernacular
• Sprüth Magers Berlin London
• Robert Montgomery