Barbara Kruger

From reading Barrett's article on Barbara Kruger, I found myself beginning to understand the history and motivation behind her style of artwork a lot more. There is a lot to be said coming from the time period she began her work, as well as how she chose to portray it to her audience. Her work sprang up during a large feminist movement, causing a large amount of controversy to surround her style and subjects. With this controversy, however, comes the power in her work. As Barrett writes "Kruger has stated her desire to welcome the female spectator into the audience of men and to ruin certain representations. Her approach is directed toward an active viewer who can refuse or accept the address of work"(62) Her strength comes from altering the meaning of images with texts and creating new messages for her audience to study. Regardless of whether they agree with her viewpoints, she uses sharp, pithy writing to make sure the message isn't missed.

I have always had an appreciation for the impact that satire in the film or television industry can have on it's audience and I found a lot of similarities in Kruger's work. I have always enjoyed how satire can use irony, sarcasm, and mockery to expose the truth or folly about a subject. Kruger uses her subjects as a form of satire as well, pairing texts that often openly contradict the images they are placed with. As the first author on Kruger states "in Kruger's hands these devices are both mimicked and arrested: she assumes the stereotypes exhortative techniques, employing it's foreground, expository quality, only to block its fascinations through the intrusion of contrary and divisive text" (29) She uses the contrast of her images and text to solidify the message she is trying to deliver to her audience in a raw, pithy manner.