Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010
London

Paste Up presents a survey of early work by acclaimed American artist Barbara Kruger. Using contrasting layers of text and image, Kruger’s work has for almost three decades probed the nature of a media-saturated society in late capitalism, and the significance of highly evolved cultures of consumerism and mass politics to the experience and making of social identities. In addition to offering acute, indeed often piquant cultural insights, Kruger’s work also presents a serious conceptual exploration into the relationship between language and image, and their dynamics as collaborators and antagonists in the bearing of meaning. The artist’s unique blend of conceptual sophistication and wry social commentary has made Kruger one of the most respected and admired artists of her generation, and this timely reappraisal of her early practice reveals the ingenuity and precision of her craft.

 

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The early monochrome pre-digital works assembled in the exhibition, known professionally as ‘paste ups’, reveal the influence of the artist’s experience as a magazine editorial designer during her early career. These small scale works, the largest of which is 11 x 13 inches, are composed of altered found images, and texts either culled from the media or invented by the artist. A negative of each work was then produced and used to make enlarged versions of these initial ‘paste ups’. The influence of Kruger’s magazine publishing training extends far beyond technique however. The linguistic and typographic conventions of consumer culture, and an understanding of the inherent potential of a single image, are appropriated and subverted by Kruger, as the artist explores the power of the soundbite and the slogan, and the method and impact of ‘direct address’ on the consumer/viewer.

Although Kruger’s practice is embedded in the visual and political culture of mass media and advertising, the work moves beyond simple appropriation and the ironic meditation on consumerism which animated earlier movements such as Pop art. The emblazoned slogans are often slightly yet meaningfully adjusted clichés of common parlance and the commercial world, and are overlaid on contrasting images which range from the grotesque to the banal. The juxtaposition of pictorial and linguistic modes of communication on the same plane thereby begs conceptual questions of human understanding, and the means by which messages are transmitted and distorted, recognised and received.

 

Installation Views
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Details
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Paste Up
Installation view, Sprüth Magers, London, November 21, 2009–January 23, 2010

Details
icon_fullscreen
1 of 11
Exhibited Works
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Our prices are insane!), 1987

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Our prices are insane!), 1987
Collage
17.5 × 17.5 cm
7 × 7 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We will no longer be seen and not heard), 1986

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We will no longer be seen and not heard), 1986
Collage
17.8 × 18.5 cm
7 × 7 1/4 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We won’t be our own best enemy), 1986

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We won’t be our own best enemy), 1986
Collage
18 × 22 cm
7 × 8 5/8 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your misery loves company), 1985

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your misery loves company), 1985
Collage
18 × 17.3 cm
7 × 6 7/8 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We decorate your life), 1985

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We decorate your life), 1985
Collage
17.7 × 17.8 cm
7 × 7 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Money can buy you love), 1985

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Money can buy you love), 1985
Collage
19.5 × 17.5 cm
7 3/4 × 7 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Now you see us / Now you don’t), 1983

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Now you see us / Now you don’t), 1983
Collage
24 × 15.2 cm
9 1/2 × 6 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (You are a very special person), 1995

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (You are a very special person), 1995
Collage
13.6 × 19.1 cm
5 3/8 × 7 1/2 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We are all that heaven allows), 1984

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We are all that heaven allows), 1984
Collage
23.7 × 15.9 cm
9 1/4 × 6 1/4 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your seeing is believing), 1984

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your seeing is believing), 1984
Collage
10.7 × 23.5 cm
4 1/8 × 9 1/4 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Surveillance is their busywork), 1985

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Surveillance is their busywork), 1985
Collage
11.1 × 22 cm
4 3/8 × 8 5/8 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Memory is your image of perfection), 1982

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Memory is your image of perfection), 1982
Collage
11.2 × 24.9 cm
4 3/8 × 9 7/8 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Our Leader), 1986

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Our Leader), 1986
Collage
21.3 × 13 cm
8 3/8 × 5 1/8 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Are we having fun yet?), 1987

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Are we having fun yet?), 1987
Collage
21.1 × 14.4 cm
8 1/4 × 5 3/4 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who follows orders?), 1989

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who follows orders?), 1989
Collage
25.4 × 9.9 cm
10 × 4 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is beyond the law?), 1989

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is beyond the law?), 1989
25.4 x 9.9 cm
10 x 4 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is free to choose?), 1989

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is free to choose?), 1989
Collage
25.4 × 9.9 cm
10 × 4 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is born to lose?), 1989

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is born to lose?), 1989
Collage
25.4 × 9.9 cm
10 × 4 inches

Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is bought and sold?), 1989

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is bought and sold?), 1989
Collage
25.4 × 9.9 cm
10 × 4 inches

Details
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Our prices are insane!), 1987
Collage
17.5 × 17.5 cm
7 × 7 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Our prices are insane!), 1987
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We will no longer be seen and not heard), 1986
Collage
17.8 × 18.5 cm
7 × 7 1/4 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We will no longer be seen and not heard), 1986
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We won’t be our own best enemy), 1986
Collage
18 × 22 cm
7 × 8 5/8 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We won’t be our own best enemy), 1986
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your misery loves company), 1985
Collage
18 × 17.3 cm
7 × 6 7/8 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your misery loves company), 1985
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We decorate your life), 1985
Collage
17.7 × 17.8 cm
7 × 7 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We decorate your life), 1985
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Money can buy you love), 1985
Collage
19.5 × 17.5 cm
7 3/4 × 7 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Money can buy you love), 1985
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Now you see us / Now you don’t), 1983
Collage
24 × 15.2 cm
9 1/2 × 6 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Now you see us / Now you don’t), 1983
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (You are a very special person), 1995
Collage
13.6 × 19.1 cm
5 3/8 × 7 1/2 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (You are a very special person), 1995
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We are all that heaven allows), 1984
Collage
23.7 × 15.9 cm
9 1/4 × 6 1/4 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (We are all that heaven allows), 1984
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your seeing is believing), 1984
Collage
10.7 × 23.5 cm
4 1/8 × 9 1/4 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Your seeing is believing), 1984
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Surveillance is their busywork), 1985
Collage
11.1 × 22 cm
4 3/8 × 8 5/8 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Surveillance is their busywork), 1985
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Memory is your image of perfection), 1982
Collage
11.2 × 24.9 cm
4 3/8 × 9 7/8 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Memory is your image of perfection), 1982
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Our Leader), 1986
Collage
21.3 × 13 cm
8 3/8 × 5 1/8 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Our Leader), 1986
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Are we having fun yet?), 1987
Collage
21.1 × 14.4 cm
8 1/4 × 5 3/4 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Are we having fun yet?), 1987
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who follows orders?), 1989
Collage
25.4 × 9.9 cm
10 × 4 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who follows orders?), 1989
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is beyond the law?), 1989
25.4 x 9.9 cm
10 x 4 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is beyond the law?), 1989
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is free to choose?), 1989
Collage
25.4 × 9.9 cm
10 × 4 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is free to choose?), 1989
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is born to lose?), 1989
Collage
25.4 × 9.9 cm
10 × 4 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is born to lose?), 1989
Barbara Kruger – Paste Up – London

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is bought and sold?), 1989
Collage
25.4 × 9.9 cm
10 × 4 inches

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Who is bought and sold?), 1989
Details
icon_fullscreen
1 of 19

 

Selected Press

 

A sloganeer who continues to cut it
The Independent, article by Laura McLean-Ferris, January 7, 2010

Barbara Kruger
Flash Art, article by Michele Robecchi, January, 2010

Go See – London: Barbara Kruger
artobserved.com, article by J. Lovallo, December 21, 2009

‘Unsere Preise sind der Wahnsinn’
Süddeutsche Zeitung, article by Alexander Menden, December 12-13, 2009

Die Bienen sind los
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, review by Anne Reimers, December 13, 2009