Barbara Kruger

BARBARA KRUGER (Newark, 1945).
"Untitled (Kiss)," 2019.
Artek Stool 60.
Solid birch, plywood and laminate.
Edition of 300 (first run).
Sealed and numbered in the original box.
Measurements: 38 x 44 x 44 cm.

The stool is part of the "Stool 60" that Alvar Aalto designed in 1933 for Artek, an icon of Nordic modernism celebrated for its versatility and production in birch. In 2019 Artek × Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London invited Kruger to "intervene" the piece of furniture to generate funds for ICA programming; she debuted at that institution with her first European solo show in 1983, hence the historical nod. The word "KISS" functions as a command, a wish or an advertising slogan. Placed where one sits, it subverts bodily intimacy and the consumption of objects. The rational design of Aalto, father of democratic ergonomics, confronts the post-pop gesture of the artist, who questions the advertising commands embedded in everyday life.

Barbara Kruger is a central figure in conceptual and feminist art, recognized for her powerful visual aesthetic that combines photography and text in red on black and white, with the intention of questioning and destabilizing narratives of consumption, gender and power. With a trajectory that fuses graphic design, teaching, and public installations, she has achieved international prestige and an undisputed critical and visual legacy. She studied for a year at Syracuse University and then, in 1965-1966, she studied at the Parsons School of Design, where she was a student of Diane Arbus and Marvin Israel. She began her career as a graphic designer for magazines such as Mademoiselle, Condé Nast, and worked as a visual editor at House and Garden and Aperture. In 1969 she explored textile art and collage, exhibitions included in the 1973 Whitney Biennial, but abandoned this direction in 1976. She returned to conceptual art in the 1980s, developing her signature style: black and white photographs with bold red text, using Futura Bold Oblique or Helvetica typography. His work criticizes consumerism, gender representation, power structures and mass culture. He has made permanent installations at institutions such as LACMA, Moderna Museet (Stockholm), the Hirshhorn Museum (Washington DC), and recently at JFK Terminal 6 (planned in 2026). Emblematic slogans: "I Shop Therefore I Am" (1987), "Your Body Is a Battleground" (1989), iconic feminist on reproductive rights. Award-winning works: Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale, Goslarer Kaiserring, and recognized in 2021 as one of the "100 Most Influential People" by Time.