Jenny Holzer (born 1950 in Gallipolis, Ohio) is an American conceptual artist. She attended Ohio University (in Athens, Ohio), Rhode Island School of Design, and the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Holzer was originally an abstract artist, focusing on painting and printmaking; after moving to New York City in 1977, she began working with text as art. She was an active member of the artist's group Colab. … (read more)

Jenny Holzer (born 1950 in Gallipolis, Ohio) is an American conceptual artist. She attended Ohio University (in Athens, Ohio), Rhode Island School of Design, and the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Holzer was originally an abstract artist, focusing on painting and printmaking; after moving to New York City in 1977, she began working with text as art. She was an active member of the artist's group Colab.

The main focus of her work is the use of words and ideas in public space. Street posters are her favorite medium, and she also makes use of a variety of other media, including LED signs, plaques, benches, stickers, T-shirts, and the Internet. Whether questioning consumerist impulses, coldly describing torture, or lamenting death and disease, Jenny Holzers use of language provokes a critical response in the viewer. While her subversive work often blends in among advertisements in public space, its arresting content violates expectations. Holzers texts have appeared on posters, as electronic L.E.D. signs, and as projections of xenon light. Her work has also been integrated into the work of Canadian contemporary dance troupe Holy Body Tattoo.

Introduction to Jenny Holzer. [Via Art21 video]

Jenny Holzer and poet Henri Cole with various "Redaction Paintings" in her studio in Hoosick Falls, New York, and "BIG HANDS YELLOW WHITE" (2006) installed at Cheim & Read, New York. Jenny Holzer: PROTECT PROTECT, an exhibition of works from the past twenty years, opens at the MCA Chicago. [Via Art21 video]

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