Jenny HolzerI Conjure
Universal ideas writ large. A six-story projection by the pioneer of text-based public art.
Art is about communicating ideas. And few modes of communication are as direct as the written word.
Since the 1970s, Jenny Holzer has distilled universal themes, big ideas and political thought into her pioneering text-based art. From posters on the streets of New York City to dazzling projections and LED sculptures to T-shirts for Willi Smith and Virgil Abloh, Holzer harnesses written language to get to the crux of the ideas that affect us all.
For RISING, Holzer will display I CONJURE, a six-story projection on the historic 19th-century facade of the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre. Selections from her seminal work Truisms (a set of nearly 300 seemingly objective statements that play on commonly held truths and clichés) alternate nightly with texts on creativity, art and activism chosen by Holzer from esteemed artists and local voices including Tracey Moffatt (who supplied the projection’s title), Agnes Martin, Grace Hartigan, Louise Nevelson, and Nikki Lam (Holzer’s local collaborator, whose work also appears at RISING in the hearts of the people are measured by the size of the land).
“In Holzer’s installations, words—not images—strive to say something true, often about love, death, sex, war, or forgiveness. Sometimes, it is something unspeakable.”
IMAGE CREDITS:
ON WAR, 2017 Light projection Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, England © 2017 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY Photo: Tom Lindboe
A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE CAN GO A LONG WAY, 2019 Light projection Gstaad Palace, Gstaad, Switzerland Text: Truisms, 1977–79 © 2019 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY Photo: Stefan Altenburger
YOU VOTE Light projection Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan, USA © 2020 Jenny Holzer, ARS Photo: Mark Rutherford