General Idea

A Poodle Creates a Portrait of General Idea as Three Pee Holes in the Snow

1981

Jenny Holzer is one of the most important and original artists of the 20th century. Her body of work, with its emphasis on text, is provocative and occasionally frightening, manipulating the language of folk wisdom, pop culture, and government slogan to produce a commentary on global issues including power structures, gender struggle, economics, voting, and warfare. Holzer's iconic "Inflammatory Essays", produced between 1979 and 1982, were first pasted on walls throughout heavily populated metro areas including New York, and shortly after in other cities. Unsigned and commercially produced, they subverted the conventions of advertising, graffiti, and public art. Each essay was in a different eye-catching color to maximize viewers' attention. It was also helpful when one Essay replaced an older one. The texts were derived from her childhood interest in rapturous writings. Holzer tried to emulate a similar style for her essays, yet borrowed from political theorists (notably Mao, Lenin, and Emma Goldman...

Joyce Wieland (1931-1998) was one of the most accomplished and versatile Canadian artists of the 20th century. Emerging on the Toronto art scene in the early 1960s, throughout her career Wieland would explore the role of women, the body, nationalism, and intimacy using a variety of mediums. During much of the 1970s, Wieland was consumed by the creation (and recovery) of making her single feature film "The Far Shore". Her all-encompassing approach included writing the script, directing, co-producing, and trying to finance the project, a task that she notoriously despised. The film was loosely inspired by the life and death of the Canadian painter, Tom Thompson...

Lawrence Weiner (1942-2021) is one of the most-distinctive American conceptual artists. His philosophy and aesthetic developed concurrently to artists such as Sol LeWitt. Weiner we...

Jenny Holzer is one of the most important and original artists of the 20th century. Her body of work, with an emphasis on text, is consistently provocative and occasionally frightening, manipulating the language of both pop culture and government slogan to produce commentary on global issues notably power structures and warfare. Holzer's iconic "Inflammatory Essays", produced between 1979 and 1982, were first pasted on walls throughout heavily populated metro areas including New York and other cities. Composed of anonymous statements, printed on friendly or calm colored papers, the statements were influenced by writings of major political figures such as Emma Goldman...

TECHNICAL INFORMATION John Baldessari Six Rooms 1993 Suite of 6 color offset lithographs with varnish and handwritten text 21 x 17 1/4 in. each Edition of 150 Pencil signed and numb...

Ed Ruscha (American, b.1937) Some Los Angeles Apartments, 1965/1970 Medium: Artist’s book (black offset printing on 100 lb. white Vicksburg Vellum text paper) Dimensions: 17.8 x 14 x...

HANS HAACKE Wir (Alle) Sind Das Volk—We (all) Are The People Color offset Lithograph on thin board LARGE: 36 × 24 inches Unframed This striking poster was created by Hans Haacke for...

Ian Hamilton Finlay and Gary Hincks Les Femmes de la Revolution, After Anselm Kiefer, 1992 Offset Lithograph 27 1/2 x 32 in (69.9 x 81.3 cm) Edition of 250