A LANGUAGE INTERPRETED AS SPACE AND MATERIAL: ‘IT’S CRUCIAL TO HAVE AN ACTIVE FANTASY LIFE’
Jenny Holzer is a conceptual artist who has spent her career producing artwork that interrogates the use of language in our contemporary media landscapes. Beginning with ‘text work’, series, in which the deleted parts of concealed government official documents were painted over in gold leaf, these works are distinctive in their tangled, flowing and expressive material properties. The artist’s anger and confusion felt while watching the ‘Mueller Report’ unfold, a document that deleted so many essential details, such as the authenticity of the case, prompts her composition to gradually fall into a labyrinth. (2020), which deliver a message of a particular critical tone via a rotating 3m-long LED sign, also features sculptures inscribed on marble chairs. The artist decided upon the title of the exhibition, which was postponed for about ten months due to the global pandemic, claiming ‘It’s Crucial to Have an Active Fantasy Life’. The show offers the experience of how an artist’s messages thrown out at society can be translated through space and material.
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days