JENNY HOLZER
Epstein 85
2019
Ink on watercolor on paper
101.6 x 152.4 cm

American conceptual artist Jenny Holzer (born in 1950) has worked with language as her primary medium for over four decades, placing texts in unexpected and often public contexts. Born in Ohio, Holzer began using language as art while still a student, motivated by a desire to communicate directly with broad audiences rather than an art-world elite. Her texts have appeared on walls, posters, T-shirts, LED signs, projections, and engraved stone; in 1990 she became the first woman to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale, where her words were carved into the marble floor of the US Pavilion. As Holzer has stated, she chose language because it offers content that people can immediately understand, making the public dimension central to her practice.

Throughout her career, Holzer has developed landmark text-based series that inform works such as ‘Epstein 85’. Her ‘Truisms’ (1977–79), composed of over 250 aphoristic statements, mimic maxims and clichés to condense complex and often conflicting ideas into blunt declarations, exposing how beliefs and “truths” are socially constructed. Other early projects, such as ‘Arno’ (1996), transformed personal loss into a universal meditation on grief through light projection, a medium that would become central to her practice.

‘Epstein 85’ exemplifies Holzer’s use of language as evidence and confrontation. Rooted in documentary specificity, the work presents text stripped of narrative framing or moral commentary, compelling the viewer to engage directly with its content. By isolating and foregrounding language tied to power and wrongdoing, Holzer reveals how systems of authority operate through words—legal, bureaucratic, and informational—while simultaneously exposing their capacity to obscure responsibility. The work’s stark presentation heightens its emotional and ethical impact, turning reading into an act of witness.

In later years, Holzer has focused increasingly on state power and secrecy, reproducing declassified and often redacted US government documents in paintings such as ‘Domestic Investigations’ and ‘Softer Targets’ (both 2017). By foregrounding both revelation and omission, these works expose the language of authority and its consequences. Seen within this context, ‘Epstein 85’ exemplifies Holzer’s ongoing commitment to using language as a tool of confrontation, accountability, and resistance.