Jonathan Horowitz On TV: Video Works, 1993–2020

On TV: Video Works, 1993-2020 is an online survey spanning almost three decades of video work by Jonathan Horowitz. Bringing together 12 pieces, it is the first exhibition to focus exclusively on Horowitz’s work in video.

Horowitz began making art in the late 1980s, with video as his primary medium. During this period, he sustained his practice and honed his craft by working in the television industry, mainly as a music video editor. While he would later employ commercial editing techniques in longer format, multilayered narratives, early works eschewed these techniques in favour of a more minimalist, conceptual approach. “My job work entailed making hundreds of inconsequential decisions very quickly,” Horowitz said. “In my art, I wanted to make just a few decisions that were of consequence.”

Influenced by both experimental film and Hollywood movies, early works focus on how movies and TV structure time and on the material components of the medium. Works are presented using consumer TVs and video players displayed on stands made from grey metal industrial shelving, creating a signature style of video sculpture. Horowitz’s use of consumer electronics underscores his conviction that the language of video is rooted in TV and movies – i.e., a popular, consumer culture, accessible to all.

A hallmark of Horowitz’s video work is his use of found footage from movies and TV, reflecting an ethos of economy and populism. Subjects that Horowitz has addressed include environmentalism, vegetarianism, and the resurgence of fascist political movements. The entertainment industry itself, alternately prurient and repressive, is also a focus of much of Horowitz’s work. Some pieces are more analytical, deconstructing cinematic genres and conventions and examining the industry’s exploitation and erasure of identity. Others are more narrative and loose in structure, interweaving Hollywood history with political history, blurring fact and fiction, to create complex, lyrical allegories for our time. Consistent throughout is a practice characterised by conceptual and formal rigour, invoking pathos, humour, and a deeply felt conscience.