Holzer @ Louvre Abu Dhabi

Steel rusts, chains orphan
Time glowers like a coffin
Stone sledgehammer gives clay persist
Marked by man, machine, glyphs

Rare craft, menacing creation
Scrawled permanence of civilisation’s memorandum
Reed cut, ridges, worn edges
Marble stamped missing pages

‘Neath structural braggadocio snows
Luminous encryptions of tik-tak-toes
Biting scattered diamonds of light
Cuneiform signs, subterranean plight

Mothering shield of stainless steel vexxed
Rodin’s broken body frames Holzer’s broken textⁱ
Sheltered, not shtetled
Words: history’s forgotten vessels

Stone sledgehammer gives clay persist
Marked by man, machine, glyphsⁱⁱ

1. Jenny Holzer is mostly known for her witty poetic phrasing on oversized posters, a jumbo “text artist” of sorts. I actually don’t mind her work generally, it’s definitely above average compared to the admittedly modest standards of the “art fair” scene. That being said, perhaps her typical fare is a bit too political for the Sheikh Zayed crowd? In any event, this 2017 work of hers at the Louvre Abu Dhabi shows remarkable artistic flexibility and sensitivity. I really think she got the butter and the money for the butter in creating a contemporary artwork that thoughtfully reaches into the past while also holding its own against the dramatic, impossibly-domed Jean Nouvel superstructure.

   

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2. Holzer reminds us how important Larva Labs’ Autoglyphs are, especially when rendered larger-than-lyph:

   

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