Object number1985.19.17

(Untitled)

Portfolio/Seriesfrom the series Inflammatory Essays

Date1979-1982

Artist Jenny Holzer (American, 1950-)

CultureAmerican

MediumCommercial offset lithograph in black ink on thin, wove grey paper

EditionUnlimited edition

DimensionsImage: 17 x 17 in. (43.2 x 43.2 cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

On View

Not on view

Period20th c

Classification(s)

InscribedOn verso, by unidentified hand, in lower right corner in pencil: 85.19.17

ProvenancePurchased from Rhona Hoffman Gallery

Vassar Exhibitions

Presses, Pop, and Pomade: American Prints Since the Sixties

Exhibition HistoryModern Art from Friends’ Collections: A Loan Exhibition Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Friends of the Vassar Art Gallery. The Vassar Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, New York, April 18 - June 9, 1985;

Presses, Pop, and Pomade: American Prints Since the Sixties, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, January 13 - March 19, 2006
DescriptionBlack italic text against a white background reads: SHRIEK WHEN THE PAIN HITS / DURING INTERROGATION. REACH / INTO THE DARK AGES TO FIND A / SOUND THAT IS LIQUID HORROR, / A SOUND OF THE BRINK WHERE / MAN STOPS AND THE BEAST / AND NAMELESS CRUEL FORCES / BEGIN. SCREAM WHEN YOUR / LIFE IS THREATENED. FORM A / NOISE SO TRUE THAT YOUR / TORMENTOR RECOGNIZES IT AS A / VOICE THAT LIVES IN HIS OWN / THROAT. THE TRUE SOUND TELLS / HIM THAT HE CUTS HIS FLESH / WHEN HE CUTS YOURS, THAT / HE CANNOT THRIVE AFTER HE / TORTURES YOU. SCREAM THAT HE / DESTROYS ALL KINDNESS IN YOU / AND BLACKENS EVERY VISION / YOU COULD HAVE SHOWN HIM.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu