MINI POST:Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger
Her work being so simple yet so loud, caught the attention of many. "I shop therefore I am" was ironically adopted by the mall generation as their mantra. The economy of Kruger's use of image and text tells a direct communication with the audience. With her caption, she unifies a critique about society, the economy, politics, gender, and culture. Her work being so intriguing and interesting. Almost as if she was explaining in right in front of me. Her works aim to sell an idea to the viewer that is meant to instigate a reconsideration of ones context.

She was best known for the silkscreen prints in which she placed a candid and eye-catching caption on the photograph. She layers found photographs from existing sources with pithy and aggressive text that involves the viewer in the struggle for power and control that her captions speak to. As well as her prints mostly from the 1980s wittily encased some of the policies President Reagan promoted with a form of satire that practically ridiculed but weren't meant to offend. She mainly focused her art on feminism, consumerism, classicism and individual autonomy.