Jenny Holzer Unofficial - Swissnex in Boston and New York

The first New York solo exhibition of Zurich-based artist Miriam Laura Leonardi is on view at the gallery JENNY’s. Her site-specific work JENNY HOLZER UNOFFICIAL AT JENNY’S CLUB is a custom-made electronic installation for the space, and a continuation of a conceptual series of “Clubs” that the artist has produced since 2019. The “Clubs” previously existed as door frames constructed from printed circuit boards or printed A4 paper, and each deals with the site of its exhibition.

For this iteration, together with Swiss designer Marco Buetikofer, Leonardi built the customized LED light installation from individually printed circuit board panels (PCBs), which are run on 5V and receive data via several microcontrollers.

The “Clubs” notions of belonging, competition and secret groupings arise from Leonardi’s observations of a population dependent on global technology, social online acceptance, fluctuating exchange values, and the hegemonic use of the English language. The American artist Jenny Holzer, known for her LED text installations, meets here with an “unofficial” Swiss imitator in the context of the gallery JENNY’S. The white on red text flows through the space, referencing the artist Barbara Kruger, her ubiquitous copycat Supreme, and the colors of the Swiss national flag.

Exhibition on view:
June 10 – July 23, 2022
Weds – Sat, 12 – 6 pm and by appointment

The Artist

Bio

Miriam Laura Leonardi
Artist
Miriam Laura Leonardi studied photography at Gobelins, l’École de l’Image, Paris and received her MFA at University of the Arts, Zurich (ZHDK). She has exhibited her work internationally at venues such as Swiss Institute, New York; Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland; Bel Ami, Los Angeles; Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich; Institute Svizzero, Rome; Plymouth Rock, Zurich; Kunsthalle Fri Art, Fribourg; Aguirre, Mexico; and Centre d’art Contemporain Geneva. She runs the project space Photography Exhibit! in Zurich and teaches in the BFA at ECAL, University of the Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Partners

This exhibition was made possible thanks to support from the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Swissnex, Presence Switzerland, and the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York.