Jenny Holzer: PROTECT PROTECT is a retrospective of Holzer’s work from the last 15 years. The exhibit, which opened last month at the Whitney Museum, exhibits new works of not only Holzer’s usual LED technology, but also sculpture and paintings of government documents attained under the Freedom of Information Act. As per usual Holzer’s works are beautiful and thought provoking while discussing her usual themes of pain, love, cruelty, peace, and survival.
The Whitney’s exhibit is beautifully laid out, successfully exhibiting her monumental LED sculptures while leaving room for her paintings to be clearly displayed. There were two aspects of the exhibit though that I thought could have been ameliorated. The first was that the connection between the paintings and the rest of the works could have been more clearly spelled out. Walking around the exhibition I sometimes caught myself asking what the paintings had to do with the other pieces in the show.
The second and more important issue is that of artistic mediums. While her work is beautiful, as always, I would enjoy seeing more out of the box works of hers such as the projections she did at the Guggenheim and the projection at Mass MoCA this summer. As a Jenny Holzer fan I am ready to see the next evolution of her work.
With all said though, the exhibition is definitely a recommended visit, especially for her fans who certainly won’t be disappointed.
