Jenny Holzer Takes Over Ibiza As Art Helps Revive The Island's Glorious Past

Ibiza isn't all club kids and sun-kissed beaches.
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Jenny Holzer, For Ibiza, 2016 (detail). Text: “The Pool" from Collected Poems 1912–1944 by H.D., ©1925 by Hilda Doolittle. Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp. ©2016 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo Collin LaFleche.
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Ibiza might be best known for its idyllic sun-kissed beaches and intense, 1990s-tinged nightlife, but this summer art lovers have other reasons to visit the Balearic island.

The billionaire art collector and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté -- the man behind the local art initiatives Lune Rouge and Art Projects Ibiza -- has launched an ambitious show of works by Jenny Holzer in collaboration with the gallery Sprüth Magers, inviting the artist to create a site-specific commission.

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Jenny Holzer, ARE YOU ALIVE?, Art Projects Ibiza, Spain, 2016 ©2016 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo Collin LaFleche
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The result is the exhibition “ARE YOU ALIVE?," which opened to the public on June 21, and brings together a number of text-based works by Holzer, ranging from "Truisms" -- a series of footstools and benches emblazoned with aphorisms -- and a number of works engraved onto boulders.

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Jenny Holzer, Selection from Truisms: The most profound…, 2015 (detail) ©2015 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photo Joshua White/JW Pictures.
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This is not the first collaboration of Laliberté with a blue-chip gallery. Last summer, he made a splash by joining forces with Blum & Poe to stage a show of new works by Takashi Murakami on the island.

The lavish festivities for the exhibition opening last summer, became the hot ticket of the season on the island.

Ibiza was an international bohemian hotspot throughout most of the 20th century -- well before it was embraced by the hordes of clubbers -- and Laliberté is not the only one who's been working hard to revive the island's artistic and intellectual past.

Since 2013, the Madrid-based gallery Parra & Romero has a second space in the island, a huge refurbished warehouse where they stage solo and group presentations by gallery artists. Currently on view are shows by Adam Pendleton and Robert Barry.

Moreover, on July 22, the gallery is launching a new sculpture park amid the stunning rural landscape of Ibiza, which will feature works by Stefan Brüggemann, Luis Camnitzer, and Philippe Decrauzat among others, curated by Jeróme Sans.

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Before You Go

30 Artist Names You Are Probably Pronouncing Wrong
Hieronymus Bosch(01 of30)
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We'll start with a real challenge. This one has plagued every fan of "The Garden of Earthly Delights." The correct pronunciation: Hi-RAHN-eh-mus Bosh. (credit:"The Garden of Earthly Delights" (Wikimedia))
Wassily Kandinsky(02 of30)
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Ok, so it's probably just Mr. Kandinsky's first name that baffled you. It's VUH-sill-ee KAN-din-skee. No Wa-silly necessary. We doubt the Russian artist would have appreciated that strange nickname. (credit:"Ladies in Crinolines" (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images))
Katsushika Hokusai(03 of30)
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You can't truly admire "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" without properly pronouncing the artist's name, right? Say it with us: Hoe-koo-SIGH. Or Hock-sigh if you can muster the speed. (credit:"The Great Wave off Kanagawa" (Wikimedia))
Auguste Rodin(04 of30)
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The next time you're ogling the French sculptor's works, you can confidently comment on his impeccable craftsmanship with this helpful hint: It's Oh-GOOST Roh-DAN. (credit:"The Thinker" (JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT/AFP/Getty Images))
Georges Seurat(05 of30)
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"A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" (Wikimedia) (credit:No, it's not George. Try, Zhorzh Sir-AH.)
Antoni Gaudi(06 of30)
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The first name's a breeze. The second name is really just as easy: Gowdy (like Howdy). (credit:(Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images))
Le Corbusier(07 of30)
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Impress your architecture-loving friends with a swift and smooth pronunciation of the design pioneer's name: Luh Cor-boo-see-YAY. (credit:"Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes" (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images))
Cimabue(08 of30)
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Remember this 13th century Italian painter and mosaicist? His name is pronounced Chee-ma-BOO-ay. (credit:"Maestà" (Wikimedia))
Mary Cassatt(09 of30)
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No, it's not Cass-et. It's Cuh-SAHT. Now you can truly appreciate her works' impressionist beauty. (credit:"Self-Portrait" (Wikimedia))
Albrecht Dürer(10 of30)
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Don't say Der-er. Try ALL-BREKT DEWR (or D-yer). (credit:"Self-Portrait" (Wikimedia))
Alberto Giacometti(11 of30)
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When admiring the work of the Swiss sculptor, painter, and printmaker, you should say, "I really enjoy the surreal experimentation of Ja-koe-met-ee." (credit:"La Main" (STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images))
Théodore Géricault(12 of30)
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No one paints a better dramatically grim raft scene than Zhair-i-KOE. (credit:"The Raft of the Medusa" (Wikimedia))
Louis Daguerre(13 of30)
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Without Da-GAIR, we would never have enjoyed the 19th century wonder that was the daguerreotype. (credit:"Boulevard du Temple" (Wikimedia))
Gustave Courbet(14 of30)
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The man behind the scandalous "Origin of the World" painting: Goo-STAHV Kor-BAY. (credit:"Self-Portrait" (Wikimedia))
Giotto(15 of30)
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Easy: JA-toe. (credit:"The Nativity" (Wikimedia))
Jean Auguste Dominque Ingres(16 of30)
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The French neoclassical painter looks as if his last name might be pronounced like "fingers" without the first consonant, but, in fact, it's An-gair (or Ang-r if your French accent is better than ours). (credit:"Napoleon on his Imperial throne" (Wikimedia))
Eadweard Muybridge(17 of30)
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So. Many. Syllables. Tough them out with this pronunciation tip: Ed-werd MY-bridge. (credit:"The Horse in Motion" (Wikimedia))
Yves Tanguy(18 of30)
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The illusive sixth vowel makes this one a bit overwhelming. The name is EVE TANG-EEE. (credit:"The Doubter" (Photo by Walter Mori / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images))
Titian(19 of30)
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So short, yet somewhat difficult to decipher. Repeat after us: TISH-in. (credit:"The Rape of Europa" (WIkimedia))
Vincent van Gogh(20 of30)
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Yes, you can say "Vincent van Go" or "Vincent van Goff," but a closer pronunciation of the Dutch name would actually be vun Khokh. It's obviously debatable. (credit:"Self-Portrait" (AP Photo/ Kroeller-Mueller Museum))
Louise Bourgeois(21 of30)
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How do you pronounce the name of the French-American sculptor known for her spider-like creations? Boo-ZHWA (credit:"Spider Maman" (Photographer: David Ramos/Bloomberg via Getty Images))
Paul Gauguin(22 of30)
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The double "u" can really hold a person back. But it's just Paul Go-GAN. (credit:"Te aa no areois (The Seed of the Areoi)" (Wikimedia))
Jan Van Eyck(23 of30)
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Yawn vun EYE-k. Or "Fun" if you're feeling bold. (credit:"The Arnolfini Portrait" (Wikimedia))
Edvard Munch(24 of30)
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Never Mun-ch, always Moonk. (credit:"The Scream" (Wikimedia))
Renoir(25 of30)
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"Oh, what a beautiful Ren-WA painting you have." (credit:"Le Moulin de la Galette" (Wikimedia))
Edgar Degas(26 of30)
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You know he created more than a handful of ballet-inspired artworks, but you're unsure of how to say his name? Ed-gar Deh-GAH. (credit:"The Dance Class" (Wikimedia))
Eugene Delacroix(27 of30)
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The French Romantic's name is Yoo-gene Del-a-QUA. (Or Oo-zhen if you're feeling optimistic.) (credit:"Liberty Leading the People" (Wikimedia))
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec(28 of30)
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The painter and printmaker's full name is Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa, but let's stick with the short version: AHN-ree deh Tah-LOOSE Lah-TREK. (credit:"Divan Japonais" (Wikimedia))
Francoise Gilot(29 of30)
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Known to some as the lover and muse of Pablo Picasso, this French painter's name is Fran-SWAZ Zhee-LOW. (Bonus points if you can phonetically differentiate between the female and male versions of this first name.) (credit:"Portrait of Francoise" by Pablo Picasso (Photo by Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images))
Henri Matisse(30 of30)
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Nope, don't say Henry. It's Awn-REE Mah-TEESE. (credit:"Music" (Photo by Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images))