Jenny Holzer
Wanås Sculpture Park
- ArtistJenny Holzer
JULIE SILBERMANN Wanås Sculpture Park is a place where art meets nature just 1.5 h drive from Copenhagen. Close to 80 art works from Nordic and American artists are spread around in the woods surrounding the Wanås Castle. My highlight is the Jenny Holzer 1.8 km. wall with hidden words and sentences carved into the stone fence. As the piece has been there for more than 20 years, moss and leaves hide the inscriptions that are based on emotions, personal experiences and social issues.
Wanås
Wanås in southern Sweden is an art center where contemporary art, nature, and history meet. Located on the grounds of a medieval castle and working organic farm, it features a sculpture park with over 70 permanent, site-specific works woven into forests, fields, and historic buildings. Since the late 1980s, artists such as Yoko Ono, Jenny Holzer, Ann Hamilton, Maya Lin, Dan Graham, Martin Puryear, and Antony Gormley have created installations that respond to the landscape and its cultural context. Alongside its permanent collection, Wanås hosts seasonal exhibitions, performances, and educational programs, making it both a cultural destination and a living laboratory for art that engages with ecology and everyday life.
The Stonewall
Jenny Holzer’s Stonewall (2017, permanently installed at Wanås Konst) is a powerful text-based artwork carved into granite stones placed in the sculpture park. The piece takes its name from the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and uses Holzer’s signature strategy of presenting words in public space to spark reflection.
Here, her selected texts about love, identity, resistance, and human rights are literally etched in stone, encouraging visitors to sit, rest, and read while surrounded by nature. The quiet, contemplative encounter contrasts with the urgency of the words, reinforcing Holzer’s long-standing interest in how language can confront authority, preserve memory, and invite dialogue.
