Barbara Kruger's Art and Design

Barbara Kruger has been described as a feminist, conceptual and a pop artist.

Her work reflects her interest in graphic design, photography, poetry and writing.

Research Kruger's work in order to answer the following questions;

1. Describe the 'style' that Kruger has used in the two presented works.

2. What are some of the concepts and messages that Kruger is communicating in them?

3. Do these images communicate these ideas effectively? Explain your answer.

4. Define the concept of Mercantilism and explain how these two examples can connect with the concept.

5. Upload a more recent example of Kruger's work where she has used a new medium, that is not graphic design. Title your image of the chosen work and comment on your response to the work. How do you think the audience would experience this work?

 

 

(1)

Kruger is an "American college artist famous for her layered photographs" (BarbaraKruger.com, n.d), which both presented works are examples of. These works represent her works from the past and her more recent stuff. The "I shop therefore I am (1987)" is a prime example of her previous works which made her famous and follows the same characteristics of some of her other works at the same time period. The use of black and white photographs with white text supported by red block backgrounds shows that Kruger knows her audience well and knows how to communicate to them well. The red, white and black combination is one of the most powerful and most influencing colour combinations in history, and Kruger knows this and she used this colour combination to her advantage to communicate her message to the world. In "Face It (Green) (2007)" she uses a more modern approach to communicate to the world but still keeps her style intact.

 

(2)

Krugers "I shop therefore I am" has an important message which is designed to make the reader think. The message can be interpreted as "a person is defined not by what they think, but what they own (through shopping)."(Yahoo Answers (2009))

  

(3)

Yes, they can be received clearly because The artwork shows the key words in bold and make them stand out in a way that communicates their message. 

 

(4)

Mercantilism is when the government started focusing more on encouraging exports and discouraging imports therefore gaining bullion. this relates to Krugers works by the fact that Mercantilism had to do with buying and selling and her works, the ones presented, had to do with how shopping related to ones identity.

 

(5)

Barbara Krugers: "You want it. You need it. You buy it. You forget it."

(Eyeteeth: A journal of incisive ideas(2010))

 

 

 

This is a truly amazing piece of work as it grabs your attention immediately and uses an unusual style of presentation. The artwork addresses the subject matter directly and relates to the mercantilism concept of buying and selling. From the audiences point of view this artwork can be seen as a bold, right in your face kind of message but it clearly communicates what it has to say.

 

 

References:

 

- Internet Sites:

• BarbaraKruger.com, n.d.
• Yahoo Answers (2009)
• Eyeteeth: A journal of incisive ideas (2010)