Customer Reviews

Barbara Kruger

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For those unaware of Barbara Kruger herself, her images will surely be familiar. Bold, seemingly simple and effortless combinations of black and white images, many culled from '50s magazines, and thought-provoking text catch the viewer off-guard and make one think hard about exactly what the artist is saying. Her themes range broadly over the spectrum of social disenfranchisement and human rights, focussing especially on women's issues. This book is a fantastic dossier of her collected images from the last few decades. They remind the reader anew of her potency as a critic of the patriarchal culture, and lose none of their impact when reproduced on a scale smaller than the original. Interspersed with essays charting the impact of her work, this catalogue provides copious illustrations of all aspects of her work. Many images are familiar, but also included are newer pieces, eg her later sculptural work, and other items of interest such as magazine layouts and book covers. At about one inch thick, the book is surprisingly light, all the better to carry around - after picking it up, you won't want to put it down! For those who have never encountered Barbara Kruger, this is an excellent, even exhaustive, place to begin. For those who know her work already, read this now and rediscover her brilliance.

"Thinking of You" is an amazing look into the mind of Barbara Kruger, an artist that challenges the viewer's concepts of reality. Most of her work consists of a photo (usually black and white) with text juxtaposed on it. The book also contains explanatory notes on selected works and essays about the artist. Her work is very philosophical and subversive. A must-have for anyone who thinks outside the box.

and it was worth every penny. this is a beautiful and thorough collection of the works of kruger. it was published as a companion to the show that was at MOCA and the Whitney and while the show was great to see this book will be a lasting favorite.

Hell Is Other People. Just one of the many pointed messages that artist and muralist Barbara Kruger conveys in her urban art messages.

We first came across the wide body of work from Ms. Kruger at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in late-1999. Surveillance is your busywork. For those not familiar, Kruger's work is generally large, bold, stark and filled with oft-times puzzling or controversial messages designed, despite her many urban installations to do anything but blend in to the scenery. In violence we forget who we are.

Why are you here? What do you want? In this new Rizzoli monograph (in similar format to the hardbound catalog of the 1999-2000 shows, `Thinking of You') Kruger's vast work is once again showcased in a way that questions life's banalities, creates and juxtaposes meaning and provides connectivity to her often explosive and divergent body of work. Your Body Is A Battleground. Kruger, an acknowledged feminist and social commentator, explores themes of body and mind, social politics and consumerism in artwork ranging from four-wall installations to billboards to posters to bus ads, all pumping out messages to the masses like some communist manifestos in black and white and red. What are you looking at?

As the artist herself says, "In my work, I try to question the seemingly natural appearance of images through the textural commentary that accompanies them." And textural it is. Similar in nature to the wordplay juxtapositional work of Ed Ruscha, Kruger's installations have been placed and commissioned the world over. Her bright colored billboards and wall murals adorn spaces from European subway stations to her more recent video installations (like her work `Twelve') to a gigantic outdoor landscape installation at the North Carolina Museum of Art and even New York's famed Lever House. Picture This.

Through it all, between her messaging and her medium, Kruger makes it her raison d'tre to not be ignored. Between her magnificent work and the essays included herein, this collection leaves little doubt that that would be virtually impossible. Don't be a jerk.