Truisms - a podcast by Sandra Newman and Catherine Nichols

In this week's episode, art historian Robert Wiesenberger joins hosts Catherine Nichols and Isaac Butler to discuss artist Jenny Holzer's "Truisms" from 1978, "Truisms" is a group of declarative sentences Holzer first put up anonymously on posters all over New York City: "Labor is a life-destroying activity.," "Lack of charisma can be fatal," "Private property created crime." The work originated in a period when Holzer was frustrated with painting and turned to language as a more direct means of expression. "Language is a good way to convey meaning," as Holzer put it.
Robert Wiesenberger is the associate curator of Contemporary Projects at the Clark Art Institute and co-author of Muriel Cooper (MIT Press 2017). He has also contributed catalog essays for the Harvard Art Museums and the Walker Art Center, and is a contributing editor to Art Papers magazine.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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