Jenny Holzer
PATRIOT 6
PATRIOT 6
Price available upon request
2022
24k gold and red gold leaf and oil on linen
260 x 201 x 3.8 cm / 102 ⅜ x 79 ⅛ x 1 ½ in
Verso signed and dated: ‘Jenny Holzer 2022’
Since the 1970s, Jenny Holzer has created text-based artworks that mobilize her own words and those of others to reflect on themes of power, violence, vulnerability and corruption. In 2004, she began working with declassified government documents from the United States made available to the public through the Freedom of Information Act. These files—at times, so heavily redacted that they conceal more than they reveal—serve as the foundation of her ongoing Redaction Paintings series, of which ‘PATRIOT 6’ is a powerful example.
In line with the broader series, Holzer covers the surface of ‘PATRIOT 6’ with layers of luminous gold leaf; an irregular form covered in 24k gold hovers above the equally incandescent backdrop. This geometric shape mimics the silhouette of a fully redacted text from FBI records on the Patriot Act, which was signed into law by former President George W. Bush following the September 11 attacks in 2001. The act was intended to deter and punish terrorism by expanding law enforcement surveillance abilities, among other provisions. Formally, the composition’s superficial beauty acts as a counterpoint to the enigmatic content hidden beneath it.
Explaining her decision to employ traditional techniques and materials in this series, Holzer said ‘Painting can have a dignity and historical resonance that is appropriate for this grave material. And while it might be a fantasy, I want to think that people preserve paintings and, in doing so, will keep the documents before a public.’ [1]
About the artist
Born in 1950 in Ohio Jenny Holzer is an American conceptual and installation artist whose work deploys text in public spaces across an array of media, including electronic and LED signs, carved stone, billboards, and printed materials. Closely aligned with feminist art, Holzer’s oeuvre provokes public debate and illuminates social and political injustice. Celebrated for her inimitable use of language and interventions in the public sphere, Holzer creates a powerful tension between the realms of feeling and knowledge, with a practice that encompasses both individual and collective experiences of power and violence, vulnerability and tenderness.
Artwork images © Jenny Holzer, Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photos: Thomas Barratt, Sveva Costa Sanseverino
Portrait of Jenny Holzer © Jenny Holzer, Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo: Nanda Lanfranco
1.) Howard Halle, ‘Jenny Holzer Discusses Her Process,’ Sunday Arts Blog, April 3, 2009, https://www.thirteen.org/sundayarts/blog/museums/jenny-holzer-discusses-her-process/691/.