This is an original paper-weight multiple by Jenny Holzer, made of pewter with engraved text. Jenny Holzer's signature is engraved in the pewter on the verso. The work is number 27 of a limited edition of 100 numbered copies, all of which are engraved on the verso. The piece measures 3-1/2 x 3 x 1/2 inches (7.6 x 8.9 x 1.3 cm) and weighs 10 ounces. This piece was published by Texte Zur Kunst, Germany 1996, produced by C. Roule Design, Germany, and is in excellent condition.
Text engraved on the recto in pewter in all capitals: “Shriek when the pain hits during interrogation. Reach into the dark ages to find a sound that is liquid horror, a sound of the brink where man stops and the beast and nameless cruel forces begin. Scream when your life is threatened. Form a noise so true that your tormentor recognizes it as a voice that lives in his own throat. The true sound tells him that he cuts his flesh when he cuts yours, That he cannot thrive after he tortures you. Scream that he destroys all kindness in you and blackens every vision you would have shown him.”
Jenny Holzer (b.1950) creates works that are controversial and thought provoking. She uses language as art and draws inspiration from the written word and from current events. Holzer often installs her art in unexpected and unconventional locations, such as on building facades and in telephone booths. Holzer received a BA from Ohio University in Athens (1972) and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (1977) and has since exhibited at numerous galleries and museums worldwide. In 1989 she became the first American woman to exhibit at the Venice Biennale.
Selected Public Collections:
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Tate Modern, London, England
Museo Guggenheim de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Bilbao, Spain
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy
Berardo Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
Statens museum for kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
