The work of Barbara Kruger—bold, trenchant and unmistakable—has made an indelible mark not only on contemporary art of the last four decades, but also more broadly on everyday visual culture.

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

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Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

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She developed her concise, forthright aesthetic in the early 1980s, and since then has deployed it across myriad forms, from small-scale tactile objects to monumental public facades. As visitors enter the gallery, they first encounter Kruger’s large-scale triptych Untitled (Never Perfect Enough) (2020) presented, as intended, on adjacent walls that envelope the viewer within the work's oversized, nine-foot-tall proportions.

 

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)
Digital prints on vinyl, 3 parts
Each 335.3 × 251 × 7.6 cm
Each 132 × 98 5/6 × 3 inches

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We see the face of a young model, in profile and from the back, demonstrating an elaborate hairstyling system of curlers and clips and tinted according to the design-language of red, green and blue. In all-caps letters, the three panels consecutively announce NEVER, PERFECT, ENOUGH, invoking the lengths to which people go to attain society’s impossible ideals of perfection.

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Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)
Digital prints on vinyl, 3 parts
Each 335.3 × 251 × 7.6 cm
Each 132 × 98 5/6 × 3 inches

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)

Details
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We see the face of a young model, in profile and from the back, demonstrating an elaborate hairstyling system of curlers and clips and tinted according to the design-language of red, green and blue. In all-caps letters, the three panels consecutively announce NEVER, PERFECT, ENOUGH, invoking the lengths to which people go to attain society’s impossible ideals of perfection.

Among the woman's curlers and instructional arrows, Kruger overlays a stream of words that move free associatively from one to the next, with the viewer left to interpret connections between them.

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)
Digital prints on vinyl, 3 parts
Each 335.3 × 251 × 7.6 cm
Each 132 × 98 5/6 × 3 inches

More views
image/svg+xml
Details
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)
Digital prints on vinyl, 3 parts
Each 335.3 × 251 × 7.6 cm
Each 132 × 98 5/6 × 3 inches

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)

Details
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Among the woman's curlers and instructional arrows, Kruger overlays a stream of words that move free associatively from one to the next, with the viewer left to interpret connections between them.

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)
Digital prints on vinyl, 3 parts
Each 335.3 × 251 × 7.6 cm
Each 132 × 98 5/6 × 3 inches

More views

The format of the appropriated image in tandem with the added text recalls the practice of phrenology, a nineteenth-century pseudoscience in which the shape and size of people's heads was thought to determine their character and mental abilities—and often used historically to argue for white supremacy and class distinctions. Kruger's triptych updates this urge to divide, categorize and control, situating these long-standing human pursuits squarely in the present while simultaneously picturing the connections between “beauty” and the punishing regimens that accompany it.

image/svg+xml
Details
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)
Digital prints on vinyl, 3 parts
Each 335.3 × 251 × 7.6 cm
Each 132 × 98 5/6 × 3 inches

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Never Perfect Enough), 2020 (detail)

Details
icon_fullscreen
1 of 1

The format of the appropriated image in tandem with the added text recalls the practice of phrenology, a nineteenth-century pseudoscience in which the shape and size of people's heads was thought to determine their character and mental abilities—and often used historically to argue for white supremacy and class distinctions. Kruger's triptych updates this urge to divide, categorize and control, situating these long-standing human pursuits squarely in the present while simultaneously picturing the connections between “beauty” and the punishing regimens that accompany it.

A group of twenty collages from the 1980s, related to some of Kruger’s early and best-known works, completes the exhibition.

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Business as usual), 1987
Photograph and type on paper
16.5 x 19.4 cm
6 1/2 x 7 5/8 inches
37.8 x 40.6 x 3.8 cm (framed)
14 7/8 x 16 x 1 1/2 inches (framed)

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Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your gaze hits the side of my face), 1981
Photograph and type on paper
23.81 × 17.78 cm
9 3/8 × 7 inches
47.9 × 39.1 × 4.1 cm (framed)
18 7/8 × 15 3/8 × 1 5/8 inches (framed)

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Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We don't need another hero), 1988
Photograph and type on paper
8.7 × 19 cm
3 3/8 × 7 1/2 inches
27.6 × 35.9 × 2.9 cm (framed)
10 7/8 × 14 1/8 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)

More views
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (How come only the unborn have the right to life?), 1986
Photograph and type on paper
22 × 14.9 cm
8 5/8 × 5 7/8 inches
48 × 39 × 4 cm (framed)
19 × 15 3/8 × 1 5/8 inches (framed)

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Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Read My Lips), 1985
Photograph and type on paper
12.7 × 15.6 cm
5 × 6 1/8 inches
32.1 × 34.3 × 4.4 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 13 1/2 × 1 3/4 inches (framed)

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The artist refers to these objects as “paste-ups,” the term for cut-and-paste mockups used in the field of graphic design, which reflects Kruger's time as an editorial designer for Mademoiselle magazine and her work designing book jackets and picture editing in the late 1960s and 1970s. These small-scale collages were then enlarged and produced as large-format gelatin silver print and vinyl works—including iconic pieces such as Untitled (Business as usual) (1987), Untitled (Your gaze hits the side of my face) (1982), and Untitled (We don't need another hero) (1988), whose paste-ups are gathered here in a selection that shows the varying compositional strategies through which the artist manipulates text, image and the relationships between them.

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Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Business as usual), 1987
Photograph and type on paper
16.5 x 19.4 cm
6 1/2 x 7 5/8 inches
37.8 x 40.6 x 3.8 cm (framed)
14 7/8 x 16 x 1 1/2 inches (framed)

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Business as usual), 1987 (scale image)

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your gaze hits the side of my face), 1981
Photograph and type on paper
23.81 × 17.78 cm
9 3/8 × 7 inches
47.9 × 39.1 × 4.1 cm (framed)
18 7/8 × 15 3/8 × 1 5/8 inches (framed)

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your gaze hits the side of my face), 1981

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We don't need another hero), 1988
Photograph and type on paper
8.7 × 19 cm
3 3/8 × 7 1/2 inches
27.6 × 35.9 × 2.9 cm (framed)
10 7/8 × 14 1/8 × 1 1/8 inches (framed)

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We don't need another hero), 1988

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (How come only the unborn have the right to life?), 1986
Photograph and type on paper
22 × 14.9 cm
8 5/8 × 5 7/8 inches
48 × 39 × 4 cm (framed)
19 × 15 3/8 × 1 5/8 inches (framed)

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (How come only the unborn have the right to life?), 1986

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Read My Lips), 1985
Photograph and type on paper
12.7 × 15.6 cm
5 × 6 1/8 inches
32.1 × 34.3 × 4.4 cm (framed)
12 5/8 × 13 1/2 × 1 3/4 inches (framed)

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Read My Lips), 1985

Details
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The artist refers to these objects as “paste-ups,” the term for cut-and-paste mockups used in the field of graphic design, which reflects Kruger's time as an editorial designer for Mademoiselle magazine and her work designing book jackets and picture editing in the late 1960s and 1970s. These small-scale collages were then enlarged and produced as large-format gelatin silver print and vinyl works—including iconic pieces such as Untitled (Business as usual) (1987), Untitled (Your gaze hits the side of my face) (1982), and Untitled (We don't need another hero) (1988), whose paste-ups are gathered here in a selection that shows the varying compositional strategies through which the artist manipulates text, image and the relationships between them.

Untitled (Never Perfect Enough) and Kruger’s collages span the artist’s career both temporally and conceptually. They offer viewers compelling insights into her process and practice, and they illustrate the many ways in which her work has infiltrated our understanding of mass media and the power structures that control and manipulate contemporary culture.

 

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

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Details
Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Barbara Kruger – Los Angeles

Barbara Kruger
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles, March 19–July 16, 2022
Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Details
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