Artist of the Postmodernist Movement, Barbara Kruger Sends a Message to the Public

Swallowing whole buses and buildings, the words of montage artist Barbara Kruger send messages to the public exemplifying problems with consumerism, feminism, and power. One of Kruger’s more popular slogans is “Your Body Is a Battleground”. Typically she works on a large scale, using images taken from the media then juxtaposes the image with text. The majority of her work deals with black and white images. Her work can be seen throughout billboards, buses, posters, and even matchbooks. Growing up in the middle class in Newark, New Jersey, Kruger studied at Sycrause University in 1964 then attended Parsons School of Design afterwards (Becker). Kruger was taught by Diane Arbus, who was her “first female role model” (Kruger) as well as Marvin Israel who she claims “[both] had an influence on [her]” (Kruger). Kruger then went on to work at Condé Nast Publications, where she would work many years, then proceeded to work in graphic design, with magazines “House and Garden” and “Aperture”. Kruger’s work in graphic design had a heavy influence on her later works, “[her] photo work with words comes full-on from [her] job as a magazine designer” (Kruger). Although Kruger’s work isn’t as popular in the postmodernist movement as other artists like Piet Mondrian, her ideas and work as a conceptual artist are very much a part of the postmodernist movement.

Born in the beginning of the post war era following World War II, Barbara Kruger grew up in a time that was transitioning from the modernist period into the postmodern or contemporary period (Becker). During this time artists were rejecting the logical thinking of modernism; which is rooted in the truthful facts and science. Postmodernism can be considered to be a reaction to modernism. It i...

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...n who they are or their potential. Kruger’s use of the pronoun "I" initially appears to be bold, particularly as it is paired with the action word "shop" preceding the affirmative word "am". Nevertheless, the disembodied hand enclosed by a strong red border challenges the illusion of freedom and subjectivity. As a result the individual's identity becomes the destitute product made and sold by politic and economic institutes. Overall the average consumer shops to gain identity and certain status to feel a sense of belonging to a particular group in society.

Kruger’s exploration of the role of women in society, and gender as a social construct with her aggressive and provocative images, places her in an important role in recent social and feminist movements. This, combined with her unique artistic techniques, has made her a very influential artist of postmodern times.