Instructions To begin, read about Jenny Holzer and her Truisms: Jenny Holzer and her Work After reading about Jenny Holzer, now it’s your turn to make: TRUISMS: A SOCIAL JUSTICE PROJECT As a group, st

Jenny Holzer and her Work

JENNY HOLZER

American artist Jenny Holzer is best known for her thought-provoking, text-based installations and her creative use of electronic technology. Whether seen on billboards, T-shirts, cups, or in a gallery, her work asks us to consider the words and messages that surround us in the information age.

“I used language because I wanted to offer content that people – not necessarily art people – could understand.”
Jenny Holzer

Let’s analyze elements of Holzer’s work:

Text
Words are central to Holzer’s work, whether pasted on a wall, flickering from an electronic sign or carved in granite. She presents messages in ways that reach people outside of museums and galleries, such as on stone benches, signs, posters and T-shirts. These texts reflect the language of breaking news, advertising and other mass media. They can often provoke strong responses. For example:
MONEY CREATES TASTE
ENJOY YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU CAN’T CHANGE ANYTHING ANYWAY
A MAN CAN’T KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A MOTHER

Collaboration
Throughout her career, Holzer has worked with many artists and activists from different backgrounds. She was part of Collaborative Projects (Colab), a group of New York City artists. This collective championed access and inclusion and created work in response to the political issues of the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1985 she brought her Truisms to life in a different way, working with choreographer Bill T. Jones on the dance project Holzer Duet … Truisms. In this performance, the actor Lawrence Goldhuber recited a text by Holzer while Jones danced with and around him.

Everyday Objects
An example of this approach is Holzer’s stone benches. She began making these in the mid-1980s. Just like the benches you find in city parks and cemeteries, these objects offer a place for reflection or discussion. Everyone is invited to sit on them and chat together. Holzer works with many kinds of stone and carefully selects materials that suit the engraved texts.

Examples of Works

Installation view of ARTIST ROOMS: Jenny Holzer at Tate Modern (23 July 2018–July 2019) ©Tate (Andrew Dunkley). From Phaidon (Links to an external site.). Fair Use

From Survival, 1983-85 (Installation view, New York, 1983) © Jenny Holzer, Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY and DACS/Artimage, London 2017, Photo: Mike Glier. From Artimage (Links to an external site.). Fair Use