BARBARA KRUGER Kruger focuses her attention on social

BARBARA KRUGER Kruger focuses her attention on social issues which expose myths that surround capitalism, consumerism, the power of the media and sex stereotyping. Kruger’s messages are succinct, pungent, confrontational and aimed at hitting quickly with extreme force- just like advertising.

We don’t need another hero Barbara Kruger, 1986 Compare to – Norman Rockwell The Muscleman 1941 • Iconography – what does a clenched fist and displayed bicep represent? • How does this work address gender stereotypes?

Barbara Kruger • Born in New Jersey in 1945. • Often described as a 'social commentator and a political agitator' • Worked early in career as a graphic designer, art director and picture editor. • Kruger’s artworks appear in museums and galleries on billboards, bus cards, posters, parks, signs, train platforms and various other public places making her work highly accessible to all (not just us art folk).

Barbara Kruger • Trademark black letters lay against a slash of red background. • Instantly recognisable slogans which challenge and test her viewers. • Easy to identify with- using relevant issues of contemporary society throughout her works. • Hard not to provoke personal and ‘real’ discussions with its audience. • Comment on the woman’s role in this work who has been ‘put in place’ by another…

Barbara Kruger • Confronting, demanding and persuasive text. • Gives viewers a sense of promise and/or hope, yet we are not actually told what we are purchasing. • Relaying that consumerism and has the power to simply ‘change the world’ • Kruger installs instant hope within ourselves- till we soon realise that we have just been tricked by a master of her craft.

• Comment on how Kruger has used recognisable slogans from our society to provoke both interest and outrage from her audience about gender roles and equality…

Binary oppositions MAN WOMAN SELF OTHER CULTURE NATURE ACTIVE PASSIVE SUBJECT OBJECT SURVEYER SURVEYED DOMINANT SUBMISSIVE REASON EMOTION PUBLIC PRIVATE Kruger is interested in DISRUPTING these binary oppositions that form the basis of many of our gender stereotypes Untitled (We won’t play nature to your culture) 1983

Context: from 1970 s to 1980 s Feminism • Backlash against Feminism from the Right • 1980 s – Gender studies in US universities but gender bias in galleries is actually worse than in 1970 s • Rise of Postmodernism pluralism, deconstruction , identity politics – the idea that being a woman is socially constructed • In art appropriation of images, increased use of language

Your gaze hits the side of my face • Iconography: comment on Kruger’s choice of image • Composition: why is the text laid out like this? • What feminist concerns come through?

• ‘You invest in the Divinity of the Masterpiece’ • What image has Kruger appropriated? • What is the feminist message of this work? • Comment on the composition

What big muscles you have!, 1986 152, 5 x 208 cm, Centre Pompidou, Paris.

“cogito ergo sum” Rene Descartes Consumerism & Capitalism • How does Kruger manage to blur the boundaries between high and low art here? - In what ways can this work be seen to offer a critique of consumerism and sexism?

TEXT • Kruger layers famous photographs which her audience are often familiar with, with cutting, biting and aggressive text that involves the viewer in the struggle for power and control that her captions speak to. • Kruger wishes to change the way society looks at and reads images which are presented to them, Kruger wants us not to take her work just on face value. • Do actions speak louder than words? ? ?

SLOGANS • Kruger includes well known slogans to draw in her viewers. • Consumerism is present in Kruger’s work as she explores themes of greed, self-indulgence and manipulation. • Kruger chooses to use only b+w in the background as she wishes for her text to be seen first-- from this we gain an impression which is then, often What does this artwork say about consumerism defining ones’ self? ? changed by the image that follows.

Political Controversy • Kruger’s work is often politically based and highly controversial at the time of print. • Comment on the use of American President George Bush in this work. What do you think the words Kruger has included into the image are implying? ? • What is the reference to war? ?

Feminism • Kruger was highly influenced by the feminist movement in America. • Kruger was regularly fighting for equal rights and opportunities in her confronting compositions. • Kruger allowed this image to be displayed on postcards and flags with the added text "Support Abortion, Birth Control, and Women's Rights” during a prochoice rally in Washington D. C during election month. • Kruger wanted to make a political statement about abortion is this work, explain how she has achieved this? ? • What do you think the word ‘battleground’ implies in this context? ?

Kruger’s aims and concerns Kruger’s art work in the public sphere: What is the effect of the juxtaposition of these images? In what way can using a public media site (billboard) be seen as a postmodernist and/or feminist strategy?

Gender Roles • Marilyn Monroe- the most beautiful woman of all time, thought to be the perfect, ideal woman. • Women wanted to be her, men wanted to be with her. • Actress- linked to famous men including JFK. • Coined the term ‘Blonde Bombshell’ • What do you think the text is trying to say in this artwork about women and their role in society?

ART • Recontextualisation of infamous artwork by Michelangelo. • Focusing attention on moment of creation- the touch. • Text is placed over the quoted masterpiece, thus obscuring it and dominating it. Kruger parodies the work of Michelangelo by imitating it in a fashion that ridicules its authority, power and extreme beauty. • Comment on the use of the words ‘invest – divinity - masterpiece’ in this appropriated artwork. .

Double Meaning • Kruger often exposes us to an aesthetically pleasing image with a hidden under text. • Kruger simply does not want to give us the meaning of her work. She wants to challenge us, to provoke interest for us to question her method- Essentially how we translate Kruger’s compositions is up to our own experiences, knowledge and personal interpretation. • This composition uses a mirror and one’s reflected image. By looking at the image and text separately explain how this artwork is a obvious contradictory…

Installations • Installations provide their audience with the opportunity to be totally immersed within an artwork. • Very confrontational. • What does this artwork scream as a first impression? ? • What impact would the use of all walls, strong colours, emotional faces and bold text in this installation have on its audience? ? • What makes an installation more powerful than a 5 x 7

APPROPRIATIONUse of another’s work in a new context with no intention of altering its meaning / visual impact in a way that both recognises and subverts the authority of the original.

PARODY- The imitation of someone or something in a way that ridicules or makes fun of them PASTICHE Work consisting of motifs borrowed from multiple sources often with mixed styles or appropriations from a number of well-known artworks.

IRONY Literal meaning is the opposite to the intended meaning, often in a playful or satirical manner. TRANSGRESSION An act which goes beyond set rules, beyond the limits.

Homework - Post Modern • Look through newspapers or magazines and find an A 4 image which you think has a strong message that you could appropriate. Eg) smoking, drink driving, skin cancer, plastic surgery, cruelty to animals etc. • Cut out this image and stick it in your sketchbook • Now start brainstorming for original slogans which could single-handedly destroy your images message. • Once you have decided on a slogan you must place it upon your image creatively. • Once complete you must use some form of technology to hand in your work to your teacher eg) photo, scanned copy, photoshop image etc – be creative and remember- make it humorous. Good Luck…