Background

Jenny Holzer was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, on on July 29, 1950. She now lives and works in Hoosick Falls, New York as an American conceptual artist, known for her text-based works, which are constructed from "truisms" such as "abuse of power comes as no surprise" and "protect me from what I want.". For more than thirty years, Jenny Holzer has presented her astringent ideas, arguments, and sorrows in public places and international exhibitions.

Holzer also received the Leone d'Oro at the Venice Biennale in 1990 and the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in 1996. She holds honorary degrees from Ohio University, Williams College, the Rhode Island School of Design, The New School, and Smith College. She have also received the Barnard Medal of Distinction in 2011.

Holzer experiments with the use of words visually displayed in public spaces and she is able to stimulate public discussions about violence, sexuality, oppression, human rights, feminism, power, war, and death. Starting with street posters, Holzer's practice has come to incorporate LED screens that run with stock-ticker-like texts, painted signs, plaques, photographs, sound, video, and the Internet.