This week I found out that my favourite text-based artist Jenny Holzer is having a tandem retrospective at the Sprueth Magers galleries in Berlin and London.
Damage is done...Text: Living Series (1980-1982), 1981
Courtesy - Sprueth Magers
The shows include her punchy and disturbing Living Series lines from the 1980s, inscribed on plaques and benches - example: "Someone Wants To Cut A Hole In You And Fuck You Through It, Buddy." You can also see her more recent and openly political work, such as redacted top secret documents from the US government.
Along with that, my Polophilia rejoices at the discovery that Holzer is a fan of W. Szymborskaand Czesław Miłosz, and has over the years projected their poems onto a number of landmark buildings across the world.
Jenny Holzer's "For the Guggenheim", 2008, text from View with a Grain of Sand by W. Szymborska
For the Milosz Year 2011, Royal Castle in Cracow
Poems in New York, 2 minutes
Here a goodlittle inter-over-view with Jenny, and some of her classic stuff to finish up.
Culture Show - Andrew Graham-Dixon interviews Jenny Holzer, 2010
Protec Me From What I Want - Times Square, 1986
Abuse of Power Comes As No Surprise - 1983, from Truisms
A spontaneous celebration of Dolly Parton. On Sunday I heard a woman sing Jolene at a street party, and it occured to me how formidable and underrated she really is.
Dolly Parton, Jolene (1974)
With this on my mind and lips, I started to dig into Dolly's life. Here my favourite facts which made me a fan.
It was Johnny Cash who encouraged Dolly to become a pro.
Dolly has written 3,000 songs and sold over 100 million albums. Elvis wanted to cover I Will Always Love You and take half the publishing rights, but Dolly stuck to her guns
Dolly wrote I Will Always Love You for Porter Wagon, the dude who announces her in the Jolene clip and with whom she sang duets for many years. They never went out. Despite his flabbergasting jacket collection.
Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner - The Last Thing on My Mind
In 1982 Dolly starred in a movie called The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. You can watch the whole thing here.
Dolly the sheep - the first cloned mammal - was named after Ms Parton. Because the donor cell used for the cloning was taken from a mammary gland.
We Got Tonight, with Kenny Rogers. Gotta love her cheek
Last but not least, Dolly owns an entire theme park - Dollywood. It features a replica of the hut she grew up in and it used to have a museum called "Rags to Riches: The Dolly Parton Story". Dollywood is officially the most popular tourist attraction in Tennessee.
