Art & Authenticy

“I want people to be drawn into the space of the work. And a lot of people are like me in that they have relatively short attention spans. So I shoot for the window of opportunity.” These are the words of Barbara Kruger, the creator of the untitled piece of a picture of a black and white picture of Marilyn Monroe under a layer of transparent turquoise satin screen displayed in the International Center of Photograph. While the other pieces in the exhibition showed photographs of their subjects with various kinds of clothing, this is the only piece that gives the photograph clothing.  Not only did this thin piece of covering enhance the lure of the rather abstract picture of Marilyn Monroe by giving it a mysterious air, it also calls attention to the attraction emitted by the picture by overlapping it with gigantic bold letter that spells “WANT ME.” Kruger’s work on what was original a simple print from an old magazine certainly caught my attention and held it for long beyond my normal span of attention.

Barbara Kruger is a graphic designer, art director and picture editor in the art department at House and Garden. She is internationally renowned for her overlaying of found photographs with powerful captions that speaks to the views through pictures as well as words. She takes picture form old mainstream magazines and dispute the images of female they represented by altering parts of the picture or overlaying them with other pictures or text. Some of Kruger’s famous text used in her pieces include “I shop therefore I am” and  “Your body is a battleground.”

Barbara Kruger questions feminism, classicism and consumerism through pictures. Because she does this so well, viewers are inspired to question with her while enjoying beautiful pieces of art. This makes Kruger a true artist who contributes to the society.