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The Pictures Generation, 1974-1984
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Barbara Kruger (American, b. 1945)
Untitled (You Are Not Yourself), 1981
Gelatin silver print; 72 x 48 in. (182.9 x 121.9 cm)
Private collection, courtesy Skarstedt Fine Art, New York
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Kruger first showed her large-scale photomontages in an exhibition at Annina Nosei Gallery in 1981 entitled Public Address. Appropriating generic-looking images from old camera annuals and magazines, the artist overlaid them with bold, declarative statements in bold-faced type that resembled political agit-prop or perhaps ransom letters. Kruger's phrasing was as deft and multivalent as her images were propulsive and direct, and the red enameled frames she sealed them in were like a kiss before a knockout punch. Despite their seeming simplicity, however, the artist was playing complex games with the way that images normally include or exclude segments of the audience, and bringing to the forefront the kinds of power plays that underlie all forms of communication.
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