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Beach Museum of Art
Kansas State University
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Jenny Holzer, Inflammatory Essays, 1979-82, printed 1996, screenprint on color paper, Kansas St…
Inflammatory Essays
Jenny Holzer, Inflammatory Essays, 1979-82, printed 1996, screenprint on color paper, Kansas St…
Jenny Holzer, Inflammatory Essays, 1979-82, printed 1996, screenprint on color paper, Kansas State University, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, gift of Donald J. Mrozek and R. Scott Dorman, 2015.34

Inflammatory Essays

Artist (United States, born 1950)
Date1995
MediumScreenprint on color paper
DimensionsIMAGE/SHEET: 10 x 10 in.
IMAGE/SHEET: 252 x 252 mm
Object TypePrints
Credit LineKSU, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, gift of Donald J. Mrozek and R. Scott Dorman
Object number2015.34
On View
Not on view
Description

·       Holzer’s Inflammatory Essays first appeared on the streets of New York City between 1979 and 1982. She pasted the colorful pieces of paper with equally colorful text on buildings, fences, and posts for the public to read.

·       Displayed on the windows here are color copies of the screenprints by Holzer. The artist intended Inflammatory Essays to be infinitely reproducible. In other words, the printed material making up the artwork is not unique. For the artist, the concept and message of the artwork are what matters.

·       Each essay quotes famous people like Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Adolf Hitler to inspire viewers to think about social issues.

·       Holzer’s method of displaying Inflammatory Essays was illegal. After police arrested her one early morning during a posting session, she sought other platforms for her work.

·       In October 1985, one of the essays was used as the publicity image for an exhibition by the Guerrilla Girls, a group of anonymous visual art professionals who protested the lack of representation and opportunity for women in the art world.

·       Each essay contains 100 words arranged over twenty lines, printed on one sheet of paper.