Jenny Holzer’s Installation at the Guggenheim

This exhibition presents a reimagination of Jenny Holzer’s landmark 1989 installation at the Guggenheim. Climbing all six ramps of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed rotunda to the building’s apex, the site-specific installation transforms the building with a display of scrolling texts, featuring selections from her iconic series, such as “Truisms” and “Inflammatory Essays”.

Light Line highlights the incisive use of the written word across time and media in Holzer’s practice. In addition to the LED sign, the exhibition features a selection of Holzer’s works from the 1970s to the present day, including paintings, works on paper, and stone pieces. From May 16–20, the artist’s light projection For the Guggenheim was displayed on the building’s façade at sundown.

Jenny Holzer: Light Line is organized by Lauren Hinkson, Associate Curator for Collections. Conservation research and treatment of Jenny Holzer’s Installation for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is led by Lena Stringari, Deputy Director and Andrew W. Mellon Chief Conservator, and Agathe Jarczyk, Associate Time-Based Media Conservator.

What to Expect

• Jenny Holzer: Light Line includes descriptions of violence, explicit language, low light levels, and an electronic light program.
• The exhibition does not contain traditional wall labels or explanatory texts. To enhance your experience, download the free Bloomberg Connects app to access the museum’s Digital Guide, which offers information about the works on view in multiple languages.
• About Jenny Holzer

For more than forty years, Jenny Holzer has presented her astringent ideas, arguments, joys, and sorrows in public places and international exhibitions, including Times Square, the Venice Biennale, the Guggenheim Museums in New York and Bilbao, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Her medium—whether a T-shirt, plaque, electronic sign, or stone bench—is writing, and the public dimension is integral to her work. Starting in the 1970s with her New York City street posters and continuing through her recent light projections on landscapes and architecture, her practice has rivaled ignorance and violence with humor, kindness, and courage. Holzer received the Leone d’Oro at the Venice Biennale in 1990, the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award in 1996, and the US State Department’s International Medal of Arts in 2017. She lives and works in New York.

https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/jenny-holzer