Jenny Holzer - Artist Rooms

Jenny Holzer - Artist Rooms,

at Tate Modern.

The anteroom:

In this anteroom,  the walls are covered with various sayings, clichés and maxims that Holzer has been gathering since she was at art school. At first she presented the phrases anonymously, printed on posters that she pasted on the streets of New York City. She recalls, 'I offered them up to myself and others, asking: 'How do you cope - within and without - when all these views are present, sometimes clamouring, sometime fighting, sometimes murderous?' 

The Central room:

This central room is dominated by a ceiling-mounted neon sculpture

On the floor a number of marble benches which feature excerpts of poems by the acclaimed author Anna Swirszczynska, who wrote about her experiences as a nurse and member of the Polish Resistance during WWII.

Holzer began making stone benches in the mid-1980s and just as they function in city parks and cemeteries, everyone is invited to sit and to converse.

On the walls are a number of bronze plaques which feature a set of quiet observations, directions and warnings, titled The Survival Series, (1984) which were written for display on electronic signs, notably in New York's Times Square in 1986. The texts also were cast as aluminium plaques. Each cautionary sentence instructs, informs or questions the ways an individual responds to the political, social, physical, psychological and personal environment.  Protect me from what I want is a key Survival text.

The first side room:

Blue Purple Tilt, 2007 (6 light emitting diode columns)

This work includes a survey of Holzer's writings. She became interested in more sculptural LED presentations and so propped the electronic displays against the wall.

More sayings from the Living series. 

After Dark It's a Relief to See a Girl (1981) which is part of the Living series. 

When You Expect Fair Play... (1983-84) in collaboration with Lady Pink

Holzer worked with New York Graffiti artist Lady Pink to reinterpret texts from the Survival series. She asked Ilona Granet, an artist specialising in sign painting, to hand letter the statements.

Second side room:

They Left Me, 2018

Holzer conveys the toll of warfare and its aftermath. The electronic sign illuminates accounts by Syrian refugees collected by Save the Children and Human Rights Watch, as well as Anna Swirszczynska's poetry of siege and resistance in WWII.

After September 11, 2001, Holzer started paintings of declassified U.S. government documents relating to intervention in the Middle East. You can see where some information in the original documents was redacted before release to the public. The paintings faithfully reproduce the original documents, apart from enlarging their scale and at times adding colour to emphasize the content. The two large paintings are slides from a PowerPoint presentation used to brief the White House in advance of the US's and UK's invasion of Iraq. 'Shock and Awe' is used to describe military tactics. 

A document of 'Alternative Interrogation Techniques'.

I've Just Been Shot, 2017, (embroidered surplus sleeping bag)

An army-issue sleeping bag, slumped in the corner, evokes the body it once held. It is stitched with first-person testimony of a veteran British military nurse, contributed by The Not Forgotten Association.

A vision of public sculpture

A Vision of Public Sculpture - George Zongolopoulos

at the Niarchos Cultural Centre.

Untitled, 1981, (stainless steel)

Alexander, 1968, (bronze)

Aphaia, 1966, (steel with colour)

Umbrellas, 1997, (steel) - model

Zongolopoulos is probably most known for his sculptures of umbrellas.

An iconic sculpture, 13m high, comprising 40 stainless steel umbrellas, fixed on diagonal metallic axes. In 1995, the sculpture was installed  at the entrance of the Venice Biennale and in 1997 it was placed at the Thessaloniki waterfront when the city was named European Capital of Culture. In 2013 it was eventually located at the city's remodelled seafront promenade becoming a national landmark.

In 1998, Zongolopoulos created a similar 9m sculptural for Psychiko, the Athens neighbourhood where he lived most of his life. There is another sculpture of umbrellas in one of the stations of the Athens underground.

Tel-Neant, 1999, (steel)

looking closer

Model for Atrium, 1999, (stainless steel)

This sculpture featuring colourful umbrellas and ladders was created in 1999 in situ at the opening for the tunnel boring machine used for the Athens Metro construction, at the Syntagma station. 'I was mainly interested in reusing the huge hole. I see it as a subway tool. I imagined it would be depressing for someone to be underground beneath the hole. The ladders towards the sky symbolise our need to climb towards the top. However, they are not consecutive, they are broken'.

Monument of Gorgopotamos, 1985, (steel)

Model for the Monument at Zalongo, 1954 

The sculpture is made of concrete supported by 4,300 limestone blocks. Being 18m long and 15m high, it is one of the largest sculptures in Greece, visible from a distance of 35km. It depicts six abstract female figures holding hands and dancing, progressively becoming larger towards the cliff, symbolising sacrifice and love of freedom.

The Dance of Zalongo refers to the mass suicide of women from Souli and their children in December 16, 1803. After being trapped by Ottoman Albanian troops, near the village of Zalongo in Epirus, modern Greece, then occupied by the Ottoman Empire, 22 women decided to turn towards the cliff's edge together with their infants and children, rather than surrender. According to tradition they did this one after the other, while dancing and singing. A legend, based on historical facts, it's considered a monumental act of bravery, an inspirational symbol of heroism and self-sacrifice in the name of freedom and human dignity.

Model of the cliffs at Zalongo

looking closer

Model for the head of the largest figure of the Monument of Zalongo, 2008

Poseidon, 1953, (bronze)

The National Library, Athens

The National Library, Athens, at the Niarchos Cultural Centre.

I finished my last post on the Niarchos Cultural Centre, as, after our walk in the Centre's park, we entered this lounge area, which they call the Lighthouse.

We went in search of the lift, through this bar/coffee area

Views of the Southern suburbs and the Ymettus range of mountains on our right

same view as above, but one which includes part of the reflecting pool

and we finally reached the lift

down to the ground floor, and the main reading area of the library, an entirely glass-walled space which sits on top of the building, just underneath the canopy roof. A square horizontal transparent box, it enjoys 360-degree views of Athens and the sea. The canopy roof provides essential shade and has been topped with 10.000 sq m of photovoltaic cells, enough to generate 1.5 megawatt of power for the library and the opera house. This field of cells should allow the building to be self-sufficient in energy terms during normal opening hours. Wherever possible, natural ventilation has been used.

The library was busy

as were the computer stations

A staircase leads to the upper floors but, we wanted to explore the spaces on the right of the  main reading area, first

It's a vast space with very high ceilings and bookshelves all the way up: stairs are strategically placed to allow access to the books

quite impressive

I tried to explore this colourful area but was told that I would need to be a member in order to do so

So we retraced our steps and took the stairs to the upper floors

Overall, there are eight reading rooms with a total of 400 seats

We walked around for a while - lots of shelves are empty waiting for books to fill them

a good view of the stairs we had just come up on, from here

and good views of the Agora, the reflecting pool and the ice skating rink. The Zoggopoulos exhibition was on the top floor, amongst the books.

After the exhibition we took the lift down to the ground floor and had a delicious lunch in the restaurant

Had a look in the shop which you can see on the left here,

walked out into the Agora

and proceeded on to the nearby taxi rank which took us back home.