To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Jenny Holzer has collaborated with Hauser & Wirth to create a limited-edition print of one of her Truisms, proceeds of which will go to charity
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“All things are delicately interconnected,” reads one of artist Jenny Holzer’s Truisms. First produced in the late 1970s while she was a student, Holzer’s iconic series subverted tropes of advertisements and media by plastering maxims like these – ‘truths’ and cliches – in public spaces, storefronts, and on billboards as well as displaying them in museums and galleries. Holzer’s astute slogans continue to resonate and are consistently exhibited around the world. “I hope my version of the Truisms could be used to caution people about their use of cliches and perhaps raise things that matter to people,” Holzer told AnOther as they featured in an exhibition in 2018.
Holzer has collaborated with global gallery Hauser & Wirth to create a limited-edition print bearing the aphorism “All things are delicately interconnected”, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day today. In light of the major and immediate threats we are living through in 2020 – most notably the climate crisis and the global Covid-19 pandemic – Holzer’s words feel more vital than ever. Only 100 prints have been produced, and proceeds will go to both Art for Acres and the World Health Organisation’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
“All things are delicately interconnected” is one of Holzer’s most prolific Truisms, having been displayed variously as a digital sign positioned in Times Square and on the sides of buses, among other iterations since the 1970s and 80s. This new artwork sees the aphorism reimagined in a sprawling, silvery cursive.
In recent years, Holzer’s work was projected onto the walls of the Blenheim Palace, the World Heritage Site in Oxfordshire once home to Winston Churchill. “Content is key, and language works for conveying meaning – that is why I use it so often,” the artist told AnOther at the time. Holzer’s work has long drawn attention to global issues and injustices, from social to environmental, and this Earth Day collaboration continues in this spirit. As she says: “Every day is Earth Day.”
Delicately Interconnected by Jenny Holzer is available to buy via Hauser & Wirth.