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Section from the "Survival Series," from the portfolio In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive and You Were Full of Joy

Artist/Maker (American, b. 1950)
Date1983–91
MediumPortfolio box with foil stamping on cloth
DimensionsOverall: 25 11/16 × 21 9/16 in. (65.2 × 54.8 cm)
Credit LineHorace W. Goldsmith Foundation Photography Fund
Edition12/25
PortfolioIn a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive and You Were Full of Joy
Object number1991.35.3
Status
On view
Copyright© Jenny Holzer / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New YorkMore Information
An Ohio native, Holzer gained critical attention in New York City in the early 1980s, amid the AIDS outbreak. Her text-based works appeared in unsuspected locations such as posters, projections on buildings, t-shirts, condoms, and benches. In post-structuralist fashion, she appropriates text fragments that are benign on their own but take on pointed significance depending on where they are installed.

Holzer was an early activist in the fight for AIDS research and treatment. The phrase, "In a dream you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy," comes from her Survival Series (1983–1985), which warned about the dangers of everyday living. Here, it adorns a portfolio box produced for an AIDS fundraiser.
Exhibition History
Recent Acquisition: Aids Portfolio
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (March 6, 1992 - May 4, 1992 )
Day Without Art
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (November 18, 1996 - December 31, 1996 )
The Body, The Host: HIV / AIDS and Christianity
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 20, 2024 - December 15, 2024 )
Collections
  • Modern & Contemporary
  • On View