Artists from 1950-1985

Jenny Holzer is an American conceptual artist.  She was born in 1950 and currently lives and works in Hoosick Falls, New York.  Originally from Gallipolis, Ohio Jenny Holzer aspired to become and abstract painter and attended Duke University, from there she studied painting, printmaking and drawing at the University of Chicago and then completed her BFA at Ohio University in 1972.

Holzer belongs to the feminist branch of a generation of artists that came about around 1980 who were looking for new ways to make narrative part of visual objects.  She is famous for her large public displays for example billboards, advertisements, projections on buildings and electronic displays.  The main focus of her work is the use of words and ideas in public space.  Her diverse practice includes a wide array of media including things such as photographs, stone benches, stickers, the internet, sound, video, paintings, and bronze plaques.

I took a particular interest in Jenny Holzers art after being introduced to her this year in this class.  After researching her stuff on the internet I really took a liking to her creativeness and the fact that I have never seen art like hers before.  The best way I would like to describe her artwork is fairly simple because it’s just really cool.

Jenny Holzer's ‘Truisms are series of aphorisms and slogans which she posted on walls, printed on t-shirts; and onto giant LED billboards. Basically any publicized place. In an interview she claimed that the 'Truisms' may not be true for everyone. 

 

Like Jenny Holzer, The Gorilla Girls appropriated the visual language of advertising to convey their messages in a quick and accessible manner. The gorilla girls are a group of anonymous female artists, who wore Gorilla masks to hide their identity, and spoke out on racial and sexist issues. After the Museum of modern art held its vast “International Survey of Contemporary Art” in 1984, in which almost no women or minorities were included, a number of professional women in the New York art world founded this collective organization. Their first plan of action was to get their messages out to the public by anonymous posting bold texted posters, similar to Holzer’s Truisms . They have also explored other forms of media such as television, stickers, billboards and bus ads. The girls used wit and irony to point a critical finger at double standards prevalent in the art world and elsewhere. Here are some examples of The Gorilla Girl’s works.

  Part of the reason that I like Jenny Holzer's art work so much is because its so different.  If I was walking outside and saw a big projection of words on a building I would stop to look at it.  And the things that she writes make you think and some are inspiring.  I just really am a fan of her work and think that its very creative and special.  Here are a few examples of her work.

Florence 1996

Providence 2006

Washing 2004

All three of these are bold and make you stop and think.  I would love to see her work in person.  My favorite one out of these three is "your oldest fears are the worst ones".  The text that she uses can hit home to everyone.  Everyone can relate to at least one of her works.