Joyce Wieland

The Arctic Belongs to Itself

1973

Joyce Wieland (1931-1998) was one of the most accomplished and versatile Canadian artists of the 20th century. Emerging on the Toronto art scene in the early 1960s, throughout her career Wieland would explore the role of women, the body, nationalism, and intimacy using a variety of mediums. During much of the 1970s, Wieland was consumed by the creation (and recovery) of making her single feature film "The Far Shore". Her all-encompassing approach included writing the script, directing, co-producing, and trying to finance the project, a task that she notoriously despised. The film was loosely inspired by the life and death of the Canadian painter, Tom Thompson...

Jenny Holzer is one of the most important and original artists of the 20th century. Her body of work, with its emphasis on text, is provocative and occasionally frightening, manipulating the language of folk wisdom, pop culture, and government slogan to produce a commentary on global issues including power structures, gender struggle, economics, voting, and warfare. Holzer's iconic "Inflammatory Essays", produced between 1979 and 1982, were first pasted on walls throughout heavily populated metro areas including New York, and shortly after in other cities. Unsigned and commercially produced, they subverted the conventions of advertising, graffiti, and public art. Each essay was in a different eye-catching color to maximize viewers' attention. It was also helpful when one Essay replaced an older one. The texts were derived from her childhood interest in rapturous writings. Holzer tried to emulate a similar style for her essays, yet borrowed from political theorists (notably Mao, Lenin, and Emma Goldman...

Lawrence Weiner (b. 1942) is one of the most-distinctive American conceptual artists. His philosophy and aesthetic developed concurrently to Sol LeWitt yet Weiner has focused far more on (text-based) installation - typically in public spaces. Exhibited at Leo Castelli during the 1970's, Weiner has been an institutional darling with major exhibitions at most of the world's top museums. As a significant portion of his output is temporary installation, his multiples (which are few and far between) are sought-after and cherished by collectors. This rare silkscreen was published in conjunction with Weiner's solo exhibition "SPHERES OF INFLUENCE...

Jenny Holzer is one of the most important and original artists of the 20th century. Her body of work, with an emphasis on text, is consistently provocative and occasionally frightening, manipulating the language of both pop culture and government slogan to produce commentary on global issues notably power structures and warfare. Holzer's iconic "Inflammatory Essays", produced between 1979 and 1982, were first pasted on walls throughout heavily populated metro areas including New York and other cities. Composed of anonymous statements, printed on friendly or calm colored papers, the statements were influenced by writings of major political figures such as Emma Goldman...