An independent archive of typography.
to participate.
Topics
Formats
Typefaces

Truisms by Jenny Holzer, Between Bridges

Contributed by Jeremy Paul Beasley on Mar 12th, 2015. Artwork published in .
    Truisms by Jenny Holzer, Between Bridges 1
    Source: www.betweenbridges.net © Jenny Holzer. License: All Rights Reserved.

    Eight posters with text from the Truisms series (1977–1979). Offset print on paper.
    Published by G_WE Partner, Hamburg.

    From Between Bridges:

    Jenny Holzer became known in New York City in 1977 for inexpensively printed and anonymously posted sheets of text known as Truisms, utilizing words as the primary medium and content of her art. Her signature style is marked by the extreme brevity and concision of statements she appropriates from diverse sources or makes up, as well as by the immediacy of her bold, “no-nonsense” fonts.

    Although Holzer’s first works employed the commercial technique of photolithography and appeared on telephone booths and walls around the city, she has since reissued the same or similar pithy, ironic, and acerbic declarations, observations, and aphorisms in a variety of formats and has placed them in countless venues.

    The 2009 exhibition at Between Bridges in London also included four posters with text from the Inflammatory Essays series (1979–1982).

    Truisms by Jenny Holzer, Between Bridges 2
    Source: www.betweenbridges.net © Jenny Holzer. License: All Rights Reserved.
    Truisms by Jenny Holzer, Between Bridges 3
    Source: www.betweenbridges.net © Jenny Holzer. License: All Rights Reserved.
    Truisms by Jenny Holzer, Between Bridges 4
    Source: www.betweenbridges.net © Jenny Holzer. License: All Rights Reserved.
    Truisms by Jenny Holzer, Between Bridges 5
    Source: www.betweenbridges.net © Jenny Holzer. License: All Rights Reserved.
    Truisms by Jenny Holzer, Between Bridges 6
    Source: www.betweenbridges.net © Jenny Holzer. License: All Rights Reserved.

    Typefaces

    • Helvetica

    Formats

    Topics

    Designers/Agencies

    Artwork location

    3 Comments on “Truisms by Jenny Holzer, Between Bridges”

    1. terrin says:
      Jul 12th, 2015 4:45 am

      I was wondering if you had up-close pics of all 8 posters? Or if you have prints of all 8 avalible to buy? Trying to buy all 8, or at least have them recreated.

    2. You should contact Jenny Holzer’s office directly, or her representatives, to inquire about purchasing her artwork.

    3. I wonder if these posters with this specific typography in bold Helvetica date from the late 1970s, or whether they were typeset and printed in 2009, on the occasion of the exhibition in London. The info on the Between Bridges website is not clear about that. The credit “published by G_WE Partner, Hamburg” hints at the latter.

      See also the posts about Truisms in Futura Bold Italic (1977/1983) and the Truism stamps in Franklin Gothic (1995).

    Post a comment