Matchbooks
Matchbooks
Barbara Kruger
1986
Materials
Offset lithograph and paper
Size
1 7/8 x 1 1/2 inches each
Racine Art Museum, Gift of Myrtle Pyle and Matching Library Fund of Printed Matter, Inc.
About the artwork.
Often employing satire, Barbara Kruger uses slick, advertising-like imagery and bold text to comment on contemporary society. In the 1980s, Kruger developed a somewhat confrontational aesthetic employing black and white photography and streamlined lettering. She uses pronouns like “your” and “I” to implicate the viewer. Blurring the boundaries between art and commerce, many of her works have been translated into marketable products such as bags, t-shirts, mugs, and matchbooks like these.