Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist
Catalogue Essay

"A NAME MEANS A LOT JUST BY ITSELF"
"WORDS TEND TO BE INADEQUATE"
"THE MOST PROFOUND THINGS ARE INEXPRESSIBLE"
"SYMBOLS ARE MORE MEANINGFUL THAN THINGS THEMSELVES"
from Truisms (1977–79)
"Abuse of power comes as no surprise" informed the Spectacolor board above
Times Square in 1982. This marked Jenny Holzer’s first appropriation of LED signage.
Holzer is an artist celebrated for her use of words. Her statements and aphorisms have
been projected onto buildings and monuments all over the world. Beginning her career
as a painter and print-maker, Holzer was eventually influenced by minimalism, integrating simplified forms into her pieces. It was not until her move to New York in 1977 that Holzer would use the phraseology and technology of mass media to turn its message and intention on its head. Marking the beginning of her Truisms series, Holzer devised numerous slogans which played on commonly held truths and clichés. Her eventual, now signature, use of electronic advertising boards, typically displaying messages such as ‘ambition is just as dangerous as complacency’, is to be seen in the present lot, which shows selections from Truisms (1977–79) and also Survival (1983–85).
The work was made by Holzer for a benefit organized by the Artist Formerly Known as Prince and EMI Records in 1997. It is one of the few unique LED works by the artist. Her message, ticking repetitively along the sign, is almost charmingly hypnotic, until the viewer tries to decipher it: "Dependence can be a meal ticket" it challenges. Her messages are at once familiar and bizarre; as such, Holzer’s mash-up of clichés infiltrate the mind easily at first, then boggle from inside. Here, her looped message meets an intervention of metallic seriality: twenty-four symbols, aligned on a frame in a continuous succession. The symbol, used by the highly successful pop musician Prince, marks the result of the musician’s legal battle with Warner Bros over the artistic and financial control of his career. The resulting symbol thus represents not only the musician and his work, but corporate bullying and commercial intrigue. A pictorial truism, the symbol forces his fans to really consider what’s in a name.
Artist Biography
Jenny Holzer
American • 1950
Jenny Holzer is a Conceptual artist best known for her text-based public art projects. Holzer's work speaks of violence, oppression, sexuality, feminism, power, war and death. Throughout the years, Holzer has employed a variety of media, from a T-shirt to a plaque to an LED sign. Starting in the 1970s with the New York City posters, and continuing through her recent light projections on landscape and architecture, she uses her art as a form of communication and commentary. Holzer's art hangs in important collections around the globe including 7 World Trade Center, the Venice Biennale, the Guggenheim Museums in New York and Bilbao and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
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12

Jenny Holzer

Selections from Truisms (1977–1979) and Survival (1983–1985)

1997
Electronic LED sign with red and green diodes and metal ornamentation.
29.8 x 119.1 x 10.2 cm (11 3/4 x 46 7/8 x 4 in).
This work is unique and was created for the Artist Formerly Known as Prince and EMI Records Benefit.

Estimate
£80,000 - 120,000 ‡

MUSIC - Evening Sale

10 December 2010
London

1
Idris Khan
Rachmaninoff...Preludes
Estimate £35,000 - 40,000 ♠
Sold for £56,450
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2
Martin Creed
Work No. 134: Largo, larghetto, adagio, andante, moderato, allegro, presto e prestissimo
Estimate £35,000 - 45,000 ‡♠
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3
Christian Marclay
Les Vierges
Estimate £12,000 - 18,000
Sold for £22,500
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4
Gregor Hildebrandt
Pictures of You (Cure)
Estimate £18,000 - 22,000 ‡♠
Sold for £30,000
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5
Banks Violette
Untitled (Disappear)
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000 †
Sold for £30,000
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6
Banks Violette
Hate them (Single Stage)
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 †
Sold for £61,250
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7
John Armleder
Untitled (FS 245)
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
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8
George Condo
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £64,850
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9
Damien Hirst
Beautiful Hours Spin Painting VI
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000
Sold for £289,250
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10
Tracey Emin
Sometimes the Dress is Worth More Money Than the Money
Estimate £12,000 - 18,000
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11
Stanley Donwood
i) Problem Intensity ii) Become United iii) Business Penis
Estimate £15,000 - 20,000
Sold for £15,000
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12
Jenny Holzer
Selections from Truisms (1977–1979) and Survival (1983–1985)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
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13
Arman
Untitled
Estimate £80,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £87,650
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14
Andy Warhol
Mick Jagger
Estimate £18,000 - 25,000 ‡
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15
Billy Childish
Self-Portrait
Estimate £12,000 - 18,000 ♠
Sold for £15,000
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16
Robert Crumb
Note to Marty Pahls
Estimate £6,000 - 8,000
Sold for £7,500
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17
Vanessa Beecroft
VBKW.16.JJ, Los Angeles
Estimate £12,000 - 18,000
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18
Vanessa Beecroft
VBKW.14.JJ, Los Angeles
Estimate £12,000 - 18,000
Sold for £11,875
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19
Dennis Morris
Marianne Faithful, Album cover 'Broken English'
Estimate £8,000 - 12,000
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MUSIC - Evening Sale

10 December 2010 London

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Jenny Holzer

12

Jenny Holzer

Selections from Truisms (1977–1979) and Survival (1983–1985)

MUSIC - Evening Sale

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10 December 2010
London