Barbara Kruger: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You - by Peter Eleey & Robyn Farrell & Michael Govan & Rebecca Morse & James Rondeau (Hardcover)

About the Book

Published in conjunction with the exhibition Barbara Kruger: thinking of you, I mean me, I mean you at the Art Institute of Chicago (April 25-August 23, 2021) and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California (October 3, 2021-May 22, 2022), and at The Museum of Modern Art (July 2, 2022-January 2, 2023)"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Five decades of iconic and incisive art from Barbara Kruger

Since the mid-1970s, Barbara Kruger (born 1945) has been interrogating the hierarchies of power and control in works that often combine visual and written language. In her singular graphic style, Kruger probes aspects of identity, desire and consumerism that are embedded in our everyday lives. This volume traces her continuously evolving practice to reveal how she adapts her work in accordance with the moment, site and context. The book features a range of striking images--from her analogue paste-ups of the 1980s to digital productions of the last two decades, including new works produced on the occasion of the exhibition. Also featured are singular works in vinyl, her large-scale room wraps, multichannel videos, site-specific installations and commissioned works.

The book also showcases how Kruger's site-specific works have been reconceived for each venue, and includes a section of reprinted texts selected by the artist. Renowned for her use of direct address and her engagement with contemporary culture, Kruger is one of the most incisive and courageous artists working today. This volume explores how her pictures and words remain urgently resonant in a rapidly changing world.

Review Quotes

Kruger's oeuvre hinges on the malleability of language, and how removing it from its everyday context can weaponize it. ... Her work has shifted focus from feminist ideology.--Brehmer Brehmer "Hyperallergic"

With the 33 works made over four decades, audiences will see that she goes well beyond clever graphics, also using sound installations and videos for her sharp takes on culture and society.--Ted Loos "New York Times: Arts"

Bold and convincing, occasionally overblunt and occasionally mischievous. Part backward looking and part revision and update for the constantly moving present, it embodies and thickens Kruger's refracting of the language of advertising and propaganda through an anticapitalist, humanist lens.--Jon Caramanica "New York Times"

A new book, 'Barbara Kruger: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You', gathers together this seminal artist's vast body of work. From the analogue paste-ups of the 1980s to her digital works of the last two decades, the anthology traces Kruger's evolving practice, taking in the groundbreaking artist's many site-specific installations, works on vinyl, and multichannel videos, among many other mediums.--Emily Dinsdale "Dazed"

Traces her forever evolving practice, revealing how she has adapted her work to suit the moment, site and context. [...] In these trying times, the book reminds us that Kruger's pictures and words remain as important as ever, shining a light on current affairs, cultural shifts, and the powers that be in a rapidly changing world.--Katy Cowan "Creative Boom"