Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick Falls, New York. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPainter
Date of Birth29 July 1950
CountryUnited States of America
writing numbers people
I was hesitant to approach people. I'm socially awkward. But I was working on a number of memorials, and finally it dawned on me: These are memorials to people who wrote, so I should use their writing. That's how I started to quit.
art stars people
That's the test of street art – to see if anybody stopped. People would cross out ones they didn't like and would star others. I liked that people would engage with them.
fun people mind
It's fun wandering around other people's minds.
thinking people pieces
I think of a piece, and then people who are competent fabricate it. But lately I've started finger painting, which probably should be a joke but isn't!
art people special
Exceptional people deserve special concessions.
thinking people support
I wanted to support things that are helpful to people and maybe bash what I think is dangerous. So I switched from being everybody to being myself.
stupid stupid-people people
Stupid people shouldn’t breed.
art people language
I used language because I wanted to offer content that people - not necessarily art people - could understand.
artist ideas people
I wasn't sure I was an artist, so I thought maybe I just was throwing ideas out for people to consider.
abandon anyone bread canvas geometric intriguing paint patterns people pigeons strips
I'd paint long strips of canvas and abandon them on the beach, or put bread out in geometric patterns for the pigeons downtown. I wanted people to find something nice and intriguing to puzzle over. Then I'd go back to see if the things were still there, or if anyone would notice.
beauty closer light might terrible
There's something about light that's right for these terrible subjects. It's a way of having beauty let you come closer than you might otherwise.
light terrible
There's something about light that's right for these terrible subjects,
So much of art-making is about reducing things to the essentials, so I don't feel particularly crippled by this. I don't want it to look natural because then I would be making a documentary film.
became benches changed interested moved upstate
One thing that changed when I moved upstate was that I became interested in different materials. I started making the stone benches because I was seeing rocks.