1 DORMO, curved Versilys Gold
bench, 43.2 x 106 x 45.7 cm
2 Fuzzy, 2016, RGB diodes, stainless
housing, 12.4 x 129.5 x 5.2 cm, ed. 6
JENNY HOLZER
Denied
curated by Philip Larratt-Smith
Jenny Holzer (b. 1950, Ohio, USA) is one of the most influential artists of her generation. Since the late 1970s, her work has explored the interaction between language and power. Her best-known installations consist of texts placed in urban spaces using various media— LED displays, hand-painted signs, bronze plaques, posters, stone benches, and light projections. Such works can awaken viewers’ consciousness and catalyze critical thinking, puncturing the media landscape to which we have become so accustomed that we can fail to recognize reality
The texts she uses, often presented in unadorned sans-serif letters, mainly consist of brief statements relating to everyday life, human hopes and fears, and, more insistently in recent years, violence and war
In works created after September 11, 2001, Holzer began to take a more explicit interest in the new history of the United States, the war on terror, secret investigations, interrogations, and the loss of human lives in failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of late, she has expanded her scope to include investigations into foreign interference in US elections and the 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
On display at the venue at via Carlo Poerio 110 is a small metal plate from the 1980s. Works from this period are characterized by incisive phrases that invite viewers to reflect on themes such as the fragility of life and the violence of war.
In the showcase at via Carlo Poerio 116, an LED sign and a marble bench inscribed with a line from a poem by Patrizia Cavalli will be exhibited
“Mi scorge amore, mi scorge quando dormo. Per questo io dormo.”
Biography
For more than forty years, Jenny Holzer has presented her astringent ideas, arguments, and sorrows in public places and international exhibitions, including Times Square, the Venice Biennale, the Guggenheim Museums in New York and Bilbao, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Her medium, whether a T-shirt, plaque, or electronic sign, is writing, and the public dimension is integral to her work. Starting in the 1970s with her New York City street posters and continuing through her recent light projections on landscape and architecture, her practice has rivaled ignorance and violence with humor, kindness, and courage. Holzer received the Leone d’Oro at the Venice Biennale in 1990, the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award in 1996, the rank of officier in France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2016, the US State Department’s International Medal of Arts in 2017, and Time magazine’s Time 100 Award in 2024. She holds honorary degrees from Williams College, the Rhode Island School of Design, the New School, and Smith College. She lives and works in New York.