Jenny Holzer – Inflammatory Essays

Jenny Holzer's signed limited edition LED artwork Inflammatory Essays 3 brings her provocative, text-based practice into an intimate, collectible multiple. This hand-signed, numbered electronic LED panel displays a rotating excerpt from Holzer's Inflammatory Essays, material first written in 1979–82, transforming incendiary prose into a luminous, kinetic object. The piece compresses Holzer's core concerns—power, language, and public address—into a compact sculptural work that functions as both a text and a lighted display.

As a fine art edition, this LED artwork represents a rare opportunity to collect a signature example of Holzer's widely influential use of language as public art. Produced in an edition of 100, each light sculpture is hand-signed and numbered by the artist.

Excerpt from Jenny Holzer’s LED sign Inflammatory Essays 3:

MONDAY, someone died because he hurt me so I cut him without thinking. TUESDAY, some animal dies because he was too dangerous to be free. WEDNESDAY, a thief died so everyone will know to respect private property. THURSDAY, some politico died because his ideas were crazy and too contagious. FRIDAY, some rapist died because he left his victim wishing she was dead. He had to die wishing he was alive. SATURDAY, I killed a condemned man so no one else would get blood on their hands. SUNDAY, I rested. MONDAY, six people jumped me so I cut them without thinking.

People must pay for what they hold, for what they steal. You have lived off the fat of the land. Now you are the pig who is ready for slaughter. You are the old enemy, the new victim. When you do something awful expect retribution in kind. Look over your shoulder. Someone is following. The poor you have robbed and ignored are impatient. Plead innocent; your squeals invite torture. Promise to be good; your lies excite and inflame. You are too depraved to reform, too treacherous to spare, too hideous for mercy. Run! Jump! Hide! Provide sport for the hunters.

Rejoice! Our times are intolerable. Take courage, for the worst is a harbinger of the best. Only dire circumstance can precipitate the overthrow of the oppressors. The old and corrupt must be laid to waste before the just can triumph. Opposition identifies and isolates the enemy. Conflict of interest must be seen for what it is. Do not support palliative gestures; they confuse the people and delay the inevitable confrontation. Delay is not tolerated for it jeopardizes the well-being of the majority. Contradiction will be heightened, the reckoning will be hastened by the staging of seed disturbances. The apocalypse will blossom.

Repressing sex urges is so bad. Poison dams up inside and then it must come out. When sex is held back too long it comes out fast and wild. It can do a lot of harm. Innocent people get shot or cut by confused sex urges. They don’t know what hit them until too late. Parents should let children express themselves so they don’t get mean early. Adults should make sure they find many outlets. All people should respond to big sex needs. Don’t make fun of individuals and send them away. It’s better to volunteer than to get forced.

Ruin your fucking self before they do. Otherwise they’ll screw you because you’re a nobody. They’ll keep you alive but you’ll have to crawl and say “thank-you” for every bone they throw. You might as well stay drunk or shoot junk and be a crazy fucker. If the rich guys want to play with you, make them get their hands dirty. Send them away gagging, or sobbing if they’re soft-hearted. You’ll be left alone if you’re frightening, and dead you’re free! You can change the radiant child in you to a reflection of the shit you were meant to serve.

Jenny Holzer (born 1950 in Gallipolis, Ohio) is a seminal figure in contemporary art, best known for her text-based works that confront power, politics, and the social function of language. Working across media including LED signs, projections, prints, and paintings, Holzer uses language as both material and message, examining how words shape perception, authority, and control.

Central to her practice are public installations that insert provocative statements into urban and architectural spaces. By adopting the visual language of advertising, signage, and official communication, Holzer embeds her texts directly into everyday environments, disrupting familiar modes of consumption and prompting critical reflection. Phrases such as "protect me from what I want" and "abuse of power comes as no surprise" have become iconic, distilling complex political and psychological ideas into direct, unforgettable declarations.

Alongside her public works, Holzer's signed limited edition prints extend this inquiry into more intimate formats. These fine art prints preserve the urgency and conceptual clarity of her public statements while allowing for closer engagement with typography, material, and surface. Across all media, Holzer's practice foregrounds language as a site of both revelation and concealment, urging viewers to question how meaning is constructed and disseminated.

Jenny Holzer's paintings and prints have been exhibited internationally and are held in the collections of major institutions including the Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Tate, and the Barbican Centre. In 1990, Holzer was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, cementing her status as one of the most influential voices in contemporary conceptual art.