Jenny Holzer is a feminist icon, revered for her politically infused, text-based conceptual art. But that doesn’t stop the 75-year-old from fretting about the bags under her eyes before being photographed in her Brooklyn studio.
Her appearance — which, to an observer, is striking in a cool, can’t-be-bothered way, aided by a tall frame, long hair and black wardrobe — is just the start of Holzer’s self-deprecation. “This is the brain trust,” she says, introducing her staff. “I’m excepted.” Describing the process for a painting series, she notes, “I point and make bad decisions, and then correct myself,” while “others with better hands and eyes and brains” execute the fixes. On her decision to become an artist: “I went to some good schools, realised I was only half smart — and that on a good day.”
Such quips are par for the course, says Marc Payot, president of Hauser & Wirth, which has represented her since 2015. “She’s not taking herself so seriously,” he says. “It’s that thin line between humour and seriousness, and absurdity and reality. She has that lightness of being. It’s brilliant.”
‘Circle’ (2026) by Jenny Holzer © Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth, photo by Matthew Watson
