do you know barbara kruger?

on a trip to new york i happened across an exhibition at the whitney museum by one barbara kruger which truly and forever influenced my standards as far as thought provoking and social commentary go in form of imagery. it is said that her artwork is so direct that it evokes an immediate response or reaction, and this is no exageration.

in this exhibition, the first and second doors on the left hand side were two installations that mirror this photo almost exactly. she'd set up a dark and tiny room with a lot of large, loud words and phrases which when projected had the power to just about knock you over... or have you slowly back out of the room feeling no more than 2 feet tall - which was more likely than not the point of this installation as words can often be used like a loaded gun.

kruger likes to use black and white and red, it's a common theme among most of her pieces, as in the above photo - it's stark, but effective. she photographs people, places and situations that depict human emotion, and feeling, no matter how twisted and strange, because it's all of us, it's a reflection of everything that society tries to hide. it's brave and it's genius, and i just happened across it, how lucky.

see more of her work here: http://www.barbarakruger.com