Jenny Holzer
PROJECT
Since the 1970s, Jenny Holzer has been at the forefront of installation and public art, combining signage with poetic, political and personal language to explore how words are used for communication and control. Here an LED sign moves erratically while displaying online posts by believers in the QAnon conspiracy movement alongside tweets by Donald Trump posted during his first term as president of the United States. Together, the glowing text and frenetic movement emphasise the increasingly polarised and turbulent rhetoric of our contemporary media landscape. Described by the artist as an ‘electronic battering ram’, WTF recalls the caustic and aggressive language that characterised Holzer’s 1979–82 poster series Inflammatory Essays.
The acquisition of this artist’s work is supported by Barry Janes AM & Paul Cross AM, and Connie Kimberley & Craig Kimberley OAM
ABOUT
Jenny Holzer is a conceptual and installation artist widely recognised for her use of text in public spaces across a range of media, including electronic displays, stonework, paintings, billboards and printed materials. Her work creates tension between emotion and intellect, addressing individual and collective experiences of power and violence, fragility and poetry. Among the most notable honours she has received are the Venice Biennale’s Leone d’Oro (1990), the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award (1996), the rank of Officier des Arts et des Lettres (2016), the US State Department’s International Medal of Arts (2017) and the Time 100 Award (2024).