If you missed the first installment of this season’s DRINKS series at White Flag Projects, don’t worry: the next artist interview will be screened (with free happy hour drinks) on Wednesday, November 18th. This time, the featured artist will be Barbara Kruger, an American conceptualist known for pairing black and white photography with alarming red slogans that target the viewer and question the status quo of consumerism and standards of beauty.
After earning her MFA from Parsons School of Design in 1965, Kruger worked in publishing as a graphic designer, photo editor and art director. Following her job as chief art director at Mademoiselle magazine and a number of other notable Conde Nast glossies, Kruger moved to the Los Angeles area, where she began teaching at CalArts. It wasn’t until 1977 that Kruger began to experiment with photography and collage. At first, she took photos of architecture; then she began appropriating mid-century American ads and adding her own text to the imagery – an approach resulting in the singularly identifiable work that’s garnered her current reknown. Kruger continues to make art today, working in the form of public installation and other alternative media, and splits her time between New York and L.A.
The interview to be screened was filmed in 1980, when Kruger’s coupling of photo and text was making its first public appearances. It will be interesting to see how she articulates her design-influenced aesthetic and theoretical inspirations at this budding stage of her career. Cocktails will be served from 5 to 7 p.m.; the interview screens at 6 p.m.
For more details on the DRINKS series, other WFP events and our current exhibition PRETHUNDERDOME, visit www.whiteflagprojects.org.