Truisms

E284058

Truisms is a seminal series of brief, provocative text-based statements by artist Jenny Holzer that challenge social norms and political assumptions, often displayed in public spaces.

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Label Occurrences
Truisms canonical 2

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Statements (75)

Predicate Object
instanceOf artwork series
conceptual art
text-based artwork
artMovement conceptual art
feminist art
text art
circaNumberOfItems over 250 statements
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
creator Holzer, Jenny
Jenny Holzer
displayedIn art galleries
museums
public spaces
urban environments
distributionMethod mass reproduction
street-level posting
wheat-pasted posters
genre conceptual art
public art
text art
hasExample ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE
ANY SURPLUS IS IMMORAL
LACK OF CHARISMA CAN BE FATAL
MONEY CREATES TASTE
MURDER HAS ITS SEXUAL SIDE
PRIVATE PROPERTY CREATED CRIME
Protect Me From What I Want
surface form: PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT

RAISE BOYS AND GIRLS THE SAME WAY
ROMANTIC LOVE WAS INVENTED TO MANIPULATE WOMEN
WORDS TEND TO BE INADEQUATE
hasPart provocative slogans
short declarative sentences
text aphorisms
inception 1977
late 1970s
influenced contemporary text-based art
politically engaged art
public art practices
language English
locationOfFirstDisplay New York City
mainSubject authority
consumerism
gender roles
ideology
language
mass media
morality
politics
power structures
social norms
violence
medium LED displays
T-shirts
benches
billboards
electronic signs
posters
printed text
public signage
stickers
notableCharacteristic ambiguous moral positions
anonymous early distribution
appropriation of advertising formats
brief statements
contradictory statements
didactic tone
provocative content
use of capital letters
purpose to challenge social norms
to disrupt everyday visual culture
to provoke critical reflection
to question political assumptions
significantIn feminist art history
late 20th-century conceptual art
political art discourse

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Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.