The texts chosen by Holzer for this special occasion will touch on important themes in her work– identity, gender, and dialogue – and in particular will address the The walls of the Sala delle Capriate, a symbolic place where historically local justice was administered, will provide the backdrop for a series of new light projections.
Tutta la verità establishes a dialogue between the stately medieval building, with its grand architectural elements and frescoes, and the subversive poetics of the American artist.
The exhibition organised by the GAMeC in Bergamo’s historical Palazzo della Ragione comes only two months after the opening of the artist’s major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The immediacy of Holzer’s message is a weapon against the mystification of reality, as implemented on a daily basis by media organisations, government agencies, and advertisers who engage in the banalisation of language. She uses language to challenge social norms, prejudices, and violence.
In Holzer’s art, modes of presentation more often associated with institutional information, news, and advertising become a powerful tool to address political and social issues. The texts in these works speak of violence, oppression, gender, sexuality, power, war, and death. Holzer went on to write a number of other text series and later began using the words of others, often in large or more permanent formats including electronic signs, stone benches, and light projections on natural and architectural surfaces, as well as oil paintings and watercolours. Initially featured on everyday objects – such as street posters, T-shirts, condom wrappers, and baseball caps – these early texts were written to resemble existing aphorisms, maxims, and clichés. In the late 1970s, her Truisms caused a stir, challenging stereotypes about art and society while prefiguring communication methods and strategies now widely deployed in guerrilla marketing. Holzer’s work employs the written word as a means of critical reflection and creative expression. It marks the return to Italy of one of the most highly acclaimed and influential artists on the international scene. Tutta la verità (The Whole Truth), an exhibition of Jenny Holzer’s work at the Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo curated by GAMeC Director Lorenzo Giusti, opens to the public on 30 May.
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