Light Line, Jenny Holzer’s iconic LED installation returns to the Guggenheim

At the Guggenheim in New York, the historic installation “Light Line” by Jenny Holzer, created in 1989 for the iconic American museum, was returned until 29 September 2024, expanded, and reinvented. Extending along the entire spiral ramp of the museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the work transforms the building into a display where texts from some of the artist’s famous series, such as “Truisms” and “Inflammatory Essays”, scroll with a hypnotic effect. Her chosen medium of expression has always been writing on various supports, and with her artistic practice, Holzer has always sought to counter ignorance and violence with humor, courage, and kindness.

“Light Line” highlights the incisiveness of the written word during Holzer’s more than forty years of activity and with the various expressive means used in her practice. In addition to the LED sign, the exhibition presents a selection of the artist’s works, including paintings, works on paper, and stone pieces, from the 1970s—famous posters displayed on the streets of New York—up to today, where Holzer mainly focuses on light projections on landscapes and architecture.

Opening Image: Installation view, Jenny Holzer: Light Line, May 17–September 29, 2024, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. © 2024 Jenny Holzer, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Filip Wolak.