Jenny Holzer "Retro"
Skarstedt Gallery
This event has ended.
Skarstedt Gallery announces the exhibition, Retro, by Jenny Holzer. This exhibition is comprised of benches, plaques, painted signs, electronic LED signs and a Laments sarcophagus, covering a decade of Holzer's oeuvre from the late 1970's to the late 1980's. It aims to reintroduce the diverse use of media comprising Holzer's historically iconographic works, as well as explore the use of text and language throughout the artist's early career.
On view in the ground floor gallery is a set of five red granite benches, which incorporate text from Holzer's Survival series (1983-85). Installed in a circular formation, the benches reflect their original installation conceived for the rotunda of the Guggenheim in 1989. Etched with text from the Survival series, the benches declare authoritative slogans such as "THE BEGINNING OF WAR WILL BE SECRET."
On display in Gallery one is an installation comprised of black and white benches from the series known as Under a Rock and Living. Solid and elegant, the benches' benign appearance is contradicted by the provocative text engraved on their surfaces.
In Gallery two, the combination of LED signs from the 1980's, a Laments drawing and sarcophagus creates a unique contrast from the regimented rhythm of the benches in gallery one. The green text streams through the electronic signs while the monolithic sarcophagus solemnly rests on the ground.
Jenny Holzer was born in Gallipolis, Ohio in 1950. She received a BFA from Ohio University in Athens as well as an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island. Thereafter, Holzer attended the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Major exhibitions include the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, (2001), Dia Foundation, New York, (1989) and the Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York (1989). She was the first woman to represent the United States with a solo exhibition in the Venice Biennale (1990) where she was awarded the Leone d'Oro. Jenny Holzer lives and works in Hoosick, New York.
Media
Schedule
from November 04, 2010 to December 18, 2010
Reception For The Artist on 2010-11-04 from 18:00 to 20:00
a cocktail reception