Barbara Kruger
Archive
2021
Untitled (Questions) presented by the Art Institute of Chicago
—
Archive
2021
About the Work
In partnership with Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), ART on THE MART presented a major new commission by iconic conceptual artist Barbara Kruger as part of its 2021 fall program.
The work’s debut for ART on THE MART coincided with an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago that explored decades of Kruger’s practice, the largest and most comprehensive presentation of her work in 20 years.
Kruger's work for ART on THE MART, titled Untitled (Questions), was intentionally created without audio to focus our attention on the persistent and potent questions shown across the expansive facade of THE MART.
About the Artist
One of the most significant and visible artists of our time, Barbara Kruger is renowned as a curious consumer and an incisive critic of popular culture. Practicing since the late 1970s, Kruger uses direct address as a rhetorical strategy to expose and undermine the power dynamics of identity, desire, and consumerism. Her instantly recognizable works utilize bold text and provocative messages; they feature rigorous interrogations of social relations and invite us to reconsider how we relate to one another.
Sponsor Information
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 million people annually.
“For more than four decades, [Barbara Kruger] has been a consistent, critical observer of the ways in which images and words circulate through culture and more recently, the accelerated modes in which they inhabit our daily lives. At a time when dispersion has replaced distribution and memes rules the realm of visual information, her momentous installation will invite us to pay attention and carefully consider how we relate to one another.”