Barbara Kruger: An Interview

At nineteen, Barbara Kruger (b. 1945) worked as a commercial artist designing for Conde Nast. The risky combination of contemporary art, commercial appeal and social critique runs throughout Kruger’s photography, readings, poetry, collages, and conversation. Her works uses advertising both as a foil and a format. Language and image work together, referencing the manipulations of the advertising media. Kruger is internationally recognized for her signature black, white, and red photomurals, which have been displayed internationally on billboards and posters as well as in galleries and museums. She has edited books on cultural theory and has published articles in The New York Times, Artforum, and other periodicals.

In this early interview, Kruger discusses her lesser-known, earlier works and the origination of her process.  "Within the art construct almost anything that gets on the walls is neutralized because it becomes decorative," she notes in this interview with Kate Horsfield.  "But there is some work that manages to use the gallery as a way of addressing its audience on a content level."

A historical interview originally recorded in 1980 and re-edited in 2004 with support from the Lyn Blumenthal Memorial Fund.