Object number1985.19.16

(Untitled)

Portfolio/Seriesfrom the series Inflammatory Essays

Date1979-1982

Artist Jenny Holzer (American, 1950-)

CultureAmerican

MediumCommercial offset lithograph in black ink on thin, wove green 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, lower right corner in pencil: 85.19.16

ProvenancePurchased from Rhona Hoffman Gallery

Vassar Exhibitions

What Now? (Or Not Yet)

Body Matters

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;

What Now? (Or Not Yet), Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, January 21 - September 10, 2023
DescriptionBlack italic text against a green background reads: CHANGE IS THE BASIS OF ALL HISTORY, / THE PROOF OF VIGOR. THE OLD IS / SOILED AND DISGUSTING BY NATURE. / STALE FOOD IS REPELLENT, MONOGAMOUS / LOVE BREEDS CONTEMPT, SENILITY / CRIPPLES THE GOVERNMENT THAT IS / TOO POWERFUL TOO LONG. UPHEAVAL / IS DESIRABLE BECAUSE FRESH, UNTAINTED / GROUPS SEIZE OPPORTUNITY. VIOLENT / OVERTHROW IS APPROPRIATE WHEN THE / SITUATION IS INTOLERABLE. SLOW / MODIFICATION CAN BE EFFECTIVE; / MEN CHANGE BEFORE THEY NOTICE / AND RESIST. THE DECADENT AND / THE POWERFUL CHAMPION CONTINUITY. / "NOTHING ESSENTIAL CHANGES." THAT / IS A MYTH. IT WILL BE REFUTED. / THE NECESSARY BIRTH CONVULSIONS / WILL BE TRIGGERED. ACTION WILL / BRING THE EVIDENCE TO YOUR DOORSTEP.

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