Barbara
Kruger
Barbara
Kruger
Kruger
American, born in 1945
Politically engaged, Barbara Kruger’s work questions the power of words and images. By « intercepting » the injunctions of advertising, it alerts the viewer to the alienations of consumer society and its signs. She also addresses the themes of violence, power and sexuality.
After working as a graphic designer in advertising and fashion, Barbara Kruger has become familiar with the conventions of mass communication. Since the end of the 1960s, her artistic practice has taken place in the context of the development of gender studies and feminist struggles. Like Cindy Sherman, she diverts the codes associated with the female gender in popular imagery, from cinema to fashion magazines, to deconstruct the dominant discourse. As early as 1979, she presented what has been her signature to this day: photomontages composed of black and white photographs, mostly from magazines of the 1940s and 1950s, which she intercepted and enlarged, and slogans printed in Futura Bold Italic font.
Exhibited in the world’s largest collections, her characteristic visual universe has spread thanks to the multiplications of media, from posters to public places. Her works held by the Pinault Collection were first shown during the 2006 « Where Are We Going ? » exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
After working as a graphic designer in advertising and fashion, Barbara Kruger has become familiar with the conventions of mass communication. Since the end of the 1960s, her artistic practice has taken place in the context of the development of gender studies and feminist struggles. Like Cindy Sherman, she diverts the codes associated with the female gender in popular imagery, from cinema to fashion magazines, to deconstruct the dominant discourse. As early as 1979, she presented what has been her signature to this day: photomontages composed of black and white photographs, mostly from magazines of the 1940s and 1950s, which she intercepted and enlarged, and slogans printed in Futura Bold Italic font.
Exhibited in the world’s largest collections, her characteristic visual universe has spread thanks to the multiplications of media, from posters to public places. Her works held by the Pinault Collection were first shown during the 2006 « Where Are We Going ? » exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
