Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

American, b. 1950

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.

Artist: Jenny Holzer

Jenny HolzerJenny Holzer -USE WHAT IS DOMINANT IN A CULTURE TO CHANGE IT: Signed glass bowl, 2003

$8,500

Jenny Holzer -USE WHAT IS DOMINANT IN A CULTURE TO CHANGE IT: Signed glass bowl

By Jenny Holzer

Located in New York, NY

Jenny Holzer USE WHAT IS DOMINANT IN A CULTURE TO CHANGE IT, 2003 Hand Blown Glass Bowl 4 × 10 × 10 inches Edition 68/200 Signed and numbered 68/200 on the underside with Holzer's in...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Blown Glass, Engraving

Esperanza CortesI.D. Bracelet, 2013

$5,500

H 10 in W 60 in

I.D. Bracelet

By Esperanza Cortes

Located in New Orleans, LA

ESPERANZA CORTÉS is a Colombian born contemporary multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. Cortés has exhibited in the United States in solo and group exhibitions in venues including Smack Mellon Gallery, Neuberger Museum of Art, Bronx Museum of Art, Queens Museum, El Museo Del Barrio, MoMA PS1, Socrates Sculpture Park and White-box Gallery in New York City. Nationally Cortes exhibitions include Cleveland Art Museum, OH, CSU Galleries at Cleveland University, OH, Helen Day Art Center, VT and The Lorenzo Homar...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal

Mireia SerraBy Your Side 12/25 - Contemporary Figurative Bronze Iron Metal Wall Sculpture, 2025

$1,745

H 3.75 in W 16 in D 2.5 in

By Your Side 12/25 - Contemporary Figurative Bronze Iron Metal Wall Sculpture

By Mireia Serra

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Mireia Serra creates sensuous bronze and iron sculptures showing the beauty of snapshots caught in life which are full of emotions and feelings along the life journey. Her metal artw...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal, Bronze, Iron

Sylwia Jakubowska-SzycikWATER RIFLE - Modern obiect sculpture made of steel and fabric, 2017

$2,005

H 33.08 in W 9.06 in D 1.58 in

WATER RIFLE - Modern obiect sculpture made of steel and fabric

By Sylwia Jakubowska-Szycik

Located in Salzburg, AT

Sylwia Jakubowska-Szycik is professor at the Academy of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Sculpture and Intermedia in Gdańsk, she conducts classes in the f...

Category

2010s Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Stainless Steel

Mauro OliveiraSeashell-Encrusted Round Mirror, Contemporary Mixed Media Art, 2024

$1,350Sale Price|54% Off

H 35 in Dm 35 in

Seashell-Encrusted Round Mirror, Contemporary Mixed Media Art

By Mauro Oliveira

Located in LOS ANGELES, CA

**NEW YEAR FINAL 90 DAYS SALE UNTIL MARCH 31ST** **STORE CLOSURE - UP TO 80% OFF - TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT** **EVERYTHING MUST GO UNTIL APRIL1ST!** >>The artist ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Glass, Resin, Wood, Acrylic

A. GhoshUntitled, Figurative, Bronze Casting & Brass Engraving Indian Artist "In Stock"

$4,699

H 48 in W 36 in D 12 in

Untitled, Figurative, Bronze Casting & Brass Engraving Indian Artist "In Stock"

Located in Kolkata, West Bengal

A. Ghosh - Untitled Bronze Casting & Brass Engraving H 48 x D 12 x W 36 inches ( Delivery Time 45 days ) Born : 19.01.1972 Qualification : Diploma in furniture design silpa sadana,...

Category

2010s Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Brass

Linda SteinLinda Stein, Starting from Canal Street 008 - Mixed Media Collage Wall Sculpture, 1976

$6,500

H 5.75 in W 21 in D 5.5 in

Linda Stein, Starting from Canal Street 008 - Mixed Media Collage Wall Sculpture

Located in New York, NY

Linda Stein, Starting from Canal Street 008 - Mixed Media Collage Wall Sculpture These wall constructions and dioramas were made in the 1970s when Linda Stein was also working on he...

Category

1970s Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Mirror, Wood, Paper, Mixed Media

Esperanza CortesPuño Azul/ Blue Fist, 2014

$6,000

H 5 in W 10 in D 5 in

Puño Azul/ Blue Fist

By Esperanza Cortes

Located in New Orleans, LA

ESPERANZA CORTÉS is a Colombian born contemporary multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. Cortés has exhibited in the United States in solo and group exhibitions in venues ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Clay, Glass

Toyoharu Kii"Ghost (Waiting for Friends), " Mixed Media Mosaic, 2022, 2022

$3,280

H 21.5 in W 21.5 in D 1.25 in

"Ghost (Waiting for Friends), " Mixed Media Mosaic, 2022

Located in Chicago, IL

Intricate, ethereal and highly textured, the abstract compositions of Japanese mosaic artist Toyoharu Kii reflect a sophisticated approach to the technical art of mosaic making. Clas...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble

Tony DagradiVisions, 2021

$4,300

H 13 in W 21.25 in D 2.25 in

Visions

By Tony Dagradi

Located in New Orleans, LA

Medium: Wood, cutouts from books TONY DAGRADI is an internationally recognized jazz performer, artist, composer, author, and educator. For over three decades he has made his home in...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood, Paper

Esperanza CortesThe De-Memorialized, 2019

$18,750

H 30 in W 20 in D 10 in

The De-Memorialized

By Esperanza Cortes

Located in New Orleans, LA

Medium: clay sculpture, glass beads, metal beads, chains, crystal, silver leaf, metal Esperanza Cortés is a Colombian born multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. Cortés ha...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal, Silver

Tony DagradiLand Of The Giants, 2023

$5,800

H 11 in W 16 in D 3 in

Land Of The Giants

By Tony Dagradi

Located in New Orleans, LA

TONY DAGRADI is an internationally recognized jazz performer, artist, composer, author, and educator. For over three decades he has made his home in New Orleans, performing on tenor ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Paper, Varnish, Found Objects

Enrique Gomez de MolinaShowgirl 1, 2019

$9,600

H 24 in W 14 in D 14 in

Showgirl 1

By Enrique Gomez de Molina

Located in Bozeman, MT

Enrique Gomez de Molina’s sculptures are fascinating, humorous and unsettling. He uses the parts of once living animals that he purchases online and from vendors and farmers. But unl...

Category

2010s Contemporary Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Glass, Mixed Media

Jenny Holzer figurative sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Jenny Holzer figurative sculptures available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Jenny Holzer in blown glass, engraving, glass and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Philip Simmons, Ivy Naté, and Kiva Ford. Jenny Holzer figurative sculptures prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7,500 and tops out at $7,500, while the average work can sell for $7,500.

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Questions About Jenny Holzer Figurative Sculptures

What is the point of Jenny Holzer's art?
1 Answer
1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
While the takeaway of Jenny Holzer’s art is subjective to each individual, her work focuses mainly on the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces with large-scale installations. Shop a selection of Jenny Holzer artwork and prints on 1stDibs.
What medium does Jenny Holzer use?
1 Answer
1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
Jenny Holzer’s medium is visual arts, specifically conceptual art and installations. She draws on social and political commentaries to create her text-rich work. You can shop a selection of Jenny Holzer’s pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.

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