Holzer, Jenny

Blurring the Boundaries

Holzer is best known for her use of short, deceptively simple yet provocative quotations projected in public settings-plaques, street posters, telephone booths, monuments, and buildings, among others-which, despite their brevity, encapsulate the struggles of the modern condition. Holzer's work blurs boundaries between the private and public spheres while exploring the intersection of art, via technology, with ideas and concepts culled from current events (including AIDS, genocidal rape in the former Yugoslavia, and the war in Iraq) as well as issues of gender, dynamics of power, the pervasiveness of consumerism, and acts of violence. Holzer's Truisms (1977-79) is a group of quotations and aphorisms (among others, “Abuse of Power Comes as No Surprise”) that she compiled and displayed in many venues, most famously on an enormous LED billboard in Times Square in 1982. “Men Don't Protect You Anymore,” from her 1983-85 Survival Series was printed on street signs, billboards, and condoms.

Since 1996, her LED quotation projections have appeared globally, such as in a permanent installation in the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Holzer is the recipient of several honorary doctorates: from the University of Ohio (1993); the Rhode Island School of Design (2003); and New School University in New York (2005) celebrating her impact on modern art. She was awarded numerous honors, including the Leone d'Oro, at the XLIV Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 1990; The Crystal Award, World Economic Forum, Geneva, 1996; and she is a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France, 2002, among others.