Jenny Holzer, Attempting to Evoke Thought in Society

Simple Truths By Elena, Raphaelle, Tamara and Zofia Introduction • A world without art would not only be dull, ideas and thoughts wouldn’t travel through society or provoke certain reactions on current events and public or private opinions. The intersection of arts and political activism are two fields defined by a shared focus of creating engagement that shifts boundaries, changes relationships and creates new paradigms. Many different artists denounce political issues in their artworks and aim to make large audiences more conscious of different political aspects. One particular artist that focuses on political art is Jenny Holzer, attempting to evoke thought in society. • Jenny Holzer is an American artist who focuses on differing perspectives on difficult political topics. Her work is primarily text-based, using mediums such as paper, billboards, and lights to display it in public spaces. • In order to make her art as accessible to the public, she intertwines aesthetic art with text to portray her political opinions from various points of view. The text strongly reinforces her message, while also leaving enough room for the work to be open to interpretation. Truisms, (1977– 79), among her best-known public works, is a series inspired by Holzer’s experience at Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program. These form a series of statements, each one representing one individual’s ideology behind a political issue. When presented all together, the public is able to see multiple perspectives on multiple issues. Holzer’s goal in this was to create a less polarized and more tolerant view of our differing viewpoints, normally something that separates us and confines us to one way of thinking. • Holzer’s background and her initial interest in using language as image • The diverse array of material that made up the Truisms series throughout the years it was displayed. • The historical context of Holzer’s works • Reception of the public both then and now. Jenny Holzer’s biography • Born on the 29th of July 1950 • Holzer transferred from Duke University to the University of Chicago • MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1975. • Holzer felt that ideas could be simplified into phrases everyone could understand, which became her first public art project, "Truisms" (1977-9) • Holzer withdrew from the art world for a few years, re-emerging in 1993 • In 2006, she released a series of silk-screened canvases on the 2002 invasion of Iraq Description of Truisms • The statements • Why words? • The story of the Truisms • Advertising approach Flyers and posters… Projections… LEDs in museums... Even on t-shirts and condoms… The historical context of the piece • Her work incorporates ''slogans, symbols and stereotypes that pose questions about the social context in which words and images operate and manipulate us'' - Richard Koshalek, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (2014) Bundestag Cindy Sherman Barbara Kruger Christopher Wool Contemporary reception •You get the weather, the sounds, the crowds, the murmur of the sea. All of these conditions conspire with or fight against the text, and that’s a gift, too. • Jenny Holzer, Even Magazine Interview •There are also different levels of intimacy. If you live with a painting or you’re in a building with a painting or a painting is being projected on the side of the building, or if you can walk around with something in your pocket . Those are just different levels of intimacy • Jenny Holzer, Interview Mag To conclude… • Jenny Holzer’s Truisms present challenging political viewpoints and opposing opinions to a large audience. Over the years, her works have confronted the public’s passivity on the streets of New York, as well as in galleries and museums. She approaches her audience in a simple, effective, and direct manner, which can therefore be open for interpretation. Using language as image, her work is autonomous and accessible to all. Thank you .

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