Jenny Holzer: Urge and Urge and Urge
Overview
On July 29, 2020—the occasion of artist Jenny Holzer’s 70th birthday—the New York City AIDS Memorial partnered with Holzer and art platform Avant Arte to present URGE AND URGE AND URGE, a public art activation and limited-edition benefit release. The project combined a sold-out artwork edition with a mobile LED truck activation across New York City, raising vital funds to support the ongoing preservation and cultural programming of the Memorial.
Project Context & Curatorial Role
The project featured a sold-out limited edition of 25 handblown recycled glass jars containing custom-printed condoms. The condom wrappers paired Holzer’s iconic Truisms—such as "PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT"—with excerpts from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, the landmark poem Holzer originally selected to be permanently carved into the granite paving of the New York City AIDS Memorial plaza.
Echoing Holzer’s celebrated 2018 project for the Memorial, #LightTheFight, black LED trucks moved through the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan, projecting scrolling text across urban facades and coming to rest at the Memorial park in Greenwich Village to illuminate Whitman’s words in real time.
Role: Executive Director/Producer
Date: July 29, 2020
Location: New York City AIDS Memorial, New York, NY (Mobile activation across Brooklyn and Manhattan)
Artist: Jenny Holzer
Partner: Avant Arte
Photos: Joe Carrotta/Avant Arte⠀
