Jenny Holzer

Phase II... Running Start Decisive Operations violet

About this artwork

Jenny Holzer’s works have a strong political emphasis, questioning how information is both controlled and received in the public domain. In this series of screenprints she reveals sensitive government transcripts relating to America’s intervention in the Middle East. Here a document from the US National Security Archive has been enlarged to highlight an isolated map of Iraq surrounded by text boxes with such instructions such as "Interdict attacks against Kurds" and "Degrade Iraqi security forces". The painted violet surface undulates, becoming more saturated in certain places to mimic the colour that skin turns when it bruises.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    Jenny Holzer (born 1950) American
  • title:
    Phase II... Running Start Decisive Operations violet
  • date created:
    2007
  • materials:
    Oil paint on canvas
  • measurements:
    201.10 x 260.00 x 4.00 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS Presented by the artist jointly to National Galleries of Scotland and Tate and acquired with assistance of the ARTIST ROOMS Fund, supported by the Henry Moore Foundation 2011
  • accession number:
    AR01133
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Jenny Holzer

Jenny Holzer