Half-Dead, "Inflammatory Essay" (from Documenta 1982)
View Similar Items
Jenny HolzerHalf-Dead, "Inflammatory Essay" (from Documenta 1982)1982
1982
About the Item
- Creator:Jenny Holzer (1950, American)
- Creation Year:1982
- Dimensions:Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Very good condition Detailed condition report by request Note: Essays were photographed in plastic protective sleeves Literature: "Jenny Holzer" by Diane Waldman 1989, pg. 58-59.
- Gallery Location:Toronto, CA
- Reference Number:Seller: 10-201stDibs: LU21526939272
Jenny Holzer
Known for taking art out of the traditional “white cube” of galleries and museums and onto the streets, Jenny Holzer is one of the most potent feminist Neo-Conceptual artists of the 20th century. Her most iconic work critiques the information age and consumerism by reclaiming its primary media — conventional print billboards, storefront posters and LED signs.
“I used language because I wanted to offer content that people — not necessarily art people — could understand,” the Ohio-born Holzer told Interview magazine. She received her MFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design, where her work was influenced by Abstract Expressionism. It was while in the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art that Holzer became inspired to work at the intersection of public art and language.
In the late 1970s, after becoming an active participant in the downtown Manhattan artist collective Colab, which included Tom Otterness and Christy Rupp, Holzer began to create her legendary “Truisms” series. Printing anonymous one-line aphorisms in bold and italicized text on broadsheets, she pasted them up in public spaces all over New York City. The “Truisms” are provocative in questioning how we receive and process information. The work elicits debate and represents a range of perspectives. In an era that saw the rise of street art and graffiti, Holzer’s pithy word art would also find viewers by way of T-shirts, stickers and park benches, into which her slogans were carved.
Holzer’s more combative “Inflammatory Essays” (1979–82) took the form of mass-produced posters on colored paper — each featuring paragraphs as compared to the punch-line structure of “Truisms.” These touched on subjects such as violence, misogyny, power structures and consumerism, all of which have continued to be central in her work.
Starting in 1982 as part of a Public Art Fund project, Holzer projected “Protect me from what I want” and other “Truisms” on the Spectacolor board, a large computerized light signboard in New York City’s Times Square. Her “Abuse of power comes as no surprise,” which has appeared on T-shirts as part of the series, has taken on new life in an increasingly politically divided America.
Just as it did in the 1970s, the forcefulness of her work continues to make both viewers and the art world stop and pay attention. She has had solo exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Tate Modern in London and elsewhere. She has also created permanent installations including the New York City AIDS Memorial. A 2014 show at New York’s Cheim & Read featured oil-on-linen canvases based on declassified government files pertaining to detainees from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Find Jenny Holzer prints and sculptures on 1stDibs.
- Imaginary RealitiesBy Lawrence WeinerLocated in Toronto, OntarioLawrence 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...Category
1990s Conceptual Prints and Multiples
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- Inflammatory Essay (from Documenta 1982)By Jenny HolzerLocated in Toronto, OntarioJenny 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...Category
1980s Conceptual Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOffset, Lithograph
- Half Dead, "Inflammatory Essay" (from Documenta 1982)By Jenny HolzerLocated in Toronto, OntarioJenny 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...Category
1980s Conceptual Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOffset, Lithograph
- The Far ShoreBy Joyce WielandLocated in Toronto, OntarioJoyce 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...Category
1970s Conceptual Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOffset, Lithograph
- End of the USABy Jenny HolzerLocated in Toronto, OntarioJenny 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...Category
1980s Conceptual More Prints
MaterialsOffset
- Ghent ScarfBy General IdeaLocated in Toronto, OntarioGeneral Idea formed in 1967 in Toronto and over the next nearly 30 years, the trio made a remarkable contribution to post-modern art. With their subversive approach and interest in...Category
1980s Conceptual Figurative Prints
MaterialsNylon, Screen
- Fold-out PACE Gallery invitation (hand signed by Robert Irwin)By Robert IrwinLocated in New York, NYRobert Irwin Fold-out PACE Gallery invitation (hand signed by Robert Irwin), 2012 Offset lithograph fold-out invitation (hand signed by Robert Irwin) Boldly signed by Robert Irwin on...Category
2010s Conceptual Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- Mia San Mia (Hand signed by Hans Haacke)Located in New York, NYHans Haacke Mia San Mia (Hand signed by Hans Haacke), 2001 Hardback monograph (hand signed by Hans Haacke) Signed by Hans Haacke in black marker on the title page 10 × 8 × 1 inches Provenance Hand signed by Hans Haacke for the present owner at a special event held at 192 Books in Manhattan (owned by Paula Cooper) This exquisite European hardcover monograph with dust jacket was hand signed by Hans Haacke in black marker on the title page for the present owner at a special event held at 192 Books in Manhattan (owned by Paula Cooper). Highly collectible. Makes an excellent gift. Published by the Generali Foundation, Austria on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition. About the exhibition: Hans Haacke (born in 1936 in Cologne, GER, has lived in New York, USA, since 1965) focused on "a single problem area: how the country deals with its history and national identity. More than I care for, these questions stir up emotions both in Austria and Germany." Haacke had been originally concerned with physical and biological systems. Very early on, his artistic practice also included the analysis of and reflection on socio-political phenomena. Haacke's work deals with social and political themes. He considers the debates arising from his works - fierce at times - to be an integral part of them. "Mia san mia" (We Are Who We Are...Category
Early 2000s Conceptual Abstract Prints
MaterialsPaper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset
- Rarely seen limited edition Spanish/English protest poster, Signed by BaldessariBy John BaldessariLocated in New York, NYJohn Baldessari Flowers of Life for Central America/Flores de Vida por Centro America (Hand Signed), 1984 Rare Offset Lithograph (Hand signed by Baldessari) 24 3/5 × 18 inches Boldly signed in white sharpie by Baldessari lower front The regular, unsigned edition was only approx. 100, though the present work was, exceptionally, uniquely hand signed by the artist Extremely rare vintage political poster...Category
1980s Conceptual Abstract Prints
MaterialsOffset, Permanent Marker, Lithograph
- Poster for Svayambh at the Royal Academy, London (hand signed by Anish Kapoor)By Anish KapoorLocated in New York, NYAnish Kapoor Poster for Svayambh at the Royal Academy, London (hand signed by Anish Kapoor), 2009 Offset lithograph poster Boldly signed by Anish Kapoor on the lower right front 21 ×...Category
Early 2000s Conceptual Interior Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
- Image Intervention project in Alaska poster (Hand Signed by Dennis Oppenheim)Located in New York, NYDennis Oppenheim Image Intervention (Hand Signed), 1984 Offset Lithograph (hand signed and dated by Dennis Oppenheim) Hand signed and dated on the middle front 28 × 20 inches Unframe...Category
1980s Conceptual Figurative Prints
MaterialsInk, Lithograph, Offset
- Stripes from the House of the Shaman (Rare poster, Hand Signed by Joseph Beuys)By Joseph BeuysLocated in New York, NYJoseph Beuys Stripes from the House of the Shaman (Hand Signed), 1980 Offset lithograph hand signed by Joseph Beuys Boldly signed on the recto in graphite pencil by Joseph Beuys Published by: Anthony D'Offay Gallery, London Frame included: held in original vintage frame From the estate and collection of artist Tom Levine. Very rare when hand signed as is the present work. Vintage frame is included with this work. (see other photos) Measurements: Framed: 32.5 inches (vertical) by 24 inches (horizontal) by 1 inch (depth) Print: 28.5 inches (vertical) by 19.5 inches (horizontal) More about Joseph Beuys: Joseph Beuys, who is recognized as one of the most influential artists of the postwar period, had a grand and ambitious goal for his work: the transformation of Western culture into a more peaceful, democratic, and creative milieu. His multifaceted career, which included sculpture, performance, lectures, activism, and even a campaign for elected office, were all part of an “expanded concept of art” that was aimed at advancing his utopian vision. In all its forms, his work is dense and highly allusive and draws on much of the accumulated knowledge of Western civilization, including history, religion, natural sciences, economic theory, and myth. A charismatic teacher, Beuys was mentor to a generation of younger artists who were inspired by his passionate fusion of art, life, and activism. Service in World War II Beuys was born in Krefeld, Germany, and as a youth pursued dual interests in art and the natural sciences. In 1940, at age 19, he joined the German air force. During his 5 years of service, he was wounded several times and interned in a British prisoner-of-war camp. He returned home in 1945 physically and emotionally depleted, and spent nearly a decade recuperating on a friend’s farm, where he made hundreds of drawings and small sculptures. Coming to terms with his involvement in World War II would be a lifelong process that informed much of his art. Teaching at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, Sled After the war, Beuys decided to dedicate himself to art. In 1961, he was appointed to a professorship at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and soon became the school’s most sought-after teacher. At the same time, he began to develop his sculptural practice. One of his best-known works from this period is Sled (1969), which he called a “survival kit”: an elemental means of transport carrying a felt blanket...Category
1980s Conceptual Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Ink, Offset