Barbara Kruger's Art Photography

Photographic collage artist Barbara Kruger contrasts mass media photographs with biting slogans. Her art probes mass media's ways of controlling its readers' self-identity, desire, and highlights its powerful grip on public opinion.

In their trademark black letters against red background, Barbara Kruger's slogans are immediately recognizable. Her satirical text probes her audiences and their perception. Issues addressed include feminine roles and self-images in society, consumerism and at times politics. She questions individual autonomy and desire.

Her feminist works examines how gender differences are reinforced in the media. In traditional media, film and advertising, women are displayed as 'objects of desire' for male audiences. When the media targets women themselves with consumer messages, the media makes women subjects, but only as patrons of desirable images of themselves.

Barbara Kruger's black-and-white images are often taken from popular magazines which promote the ideas that Barbara Kruger disputes. Her clever questioning approach is formulated through a vague, unclear use of "I", "you" and "we". As viewers of her work, we are often not sure who is the speaker and who is talked about or talked to. Samples of her slogans are: "Your body is a battleground" and "You are not Yourself".

Besides showing around the world in museums & galleries, Kruger's work has appeared on billboards, t-shirts, bus cards, posters, a public park, a train station platform in Strasbourg, France, and in other public commissions.

After Syracuse School of Visual Arts and Parson's School of Design, Kruger commenced a professional career in graphic design/ She worked on magazines like Mademoiselle and other publications. This background in design can be clearly seen in the artwork, for which she is now internationally renowned.

Born 1945, Newark, New York, USA. The artist now lives and works in Los Angeles and New York. You can find her artwork in exhibitions around the world. There are also several books published about her art.