For New York City: Planes and Projections
Jenny Holzer
October 26-November 6, 2004
The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine; Bethesda Fountain in Central Park; The Cooper Union; The Pennsylvania Hotel; 515 Greenwich Street; and citywide via airplane
Photo © 2004 Charlie Samuels
Utilizing the services of US Sky Ads, Jenny Holzer took thought to the skies, wrapped building facades in poetry, and elevated the individual voice to the heights of the firmament. Returning to New York City to launch her first public art project in the City in over a decade, Holzer employed a squadron of airplanes to fly in succession along the Hudson River, while pulling banners emblazoned with text such as Holzer’s Truisms and an Abraham Lincoln quote behind them.
In a similar vein, Holzer also applied text to the surface of the city itself when she displayed xenon projections of the words of important poets Wislawa Szymborska, Yehuda Amichai, and Henri Cole on landmark New York City buildings. Impressive in scale, suprising in context, Holzer’s work powerfully reminded viewers of the individual’s voice within public life.