elc team
From April 28th to November 1st the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) will debut legendary American artist Barbara Kruger’s first solo exhibition in Greece. Untitled (Pride and Contempt) presents thirteen newly created site-specific works, including a monumental 90-meter-long wall mural displayed on the building of the National Library of Greece. Kruger’s large-scale outdoor exhibition will flank the two sides of the SNFCC’s Canal, creating for visitors an immersing experience. The exhibition, which reinforces SNFCC’s international artistic profile, is made possible through the donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
Over the course of her fifty-year career, Kruger has developed an iconic visual language that borrows from the conventions and aesthetics of advertising and mass-communication. Since the 1970s, her practice has continuously challenged notions of power, gender, class, and consumerism. She has masterfully transformed her skills as an artist, writer, feminist, and graphic designer into some of the most impactful and resonant artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Kruger’s work is both timeless and exceedingly timely. Speaking directly to the public, her graphic textual statements comment on social and cultural issues. Blurring the lines between political slogans, aphorisms and blunt observations, Kruger’s thought-provoking works respond to the current sociopolitical climate in Europe. In her boldly confrontational work, Kruger encourages the public to reflect on their place and participation in society. Who has a voice -and how it is used- are questions central to her practice.
The thirteen textual works, written for the first time in the Greek language, address issues of truth, power, critical thinking and agency. “BAD IS GOOD” and “TRUTH IS FICTION”, are among the declarative statements designed in high-contrast black, white, and green colors. Imposing, commentative, and savvy, Untitled (Pride and Contempt) is a provocation to arouse and inspire the Greek public.
The exhibition is curated by Katerina Stathopoulou.
Barbara Kruger
Barbara Kruger was born in 1945 in New Jersey, USA, and currently lives and works in Los Angeles and New York. Her work has been presented at major museums and institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Kruger consistently finds new ways to engage audiences, employing a wide range of media-from traditional formats to complex video and sound projects and vast architectural installations in public spaces.
Her works may appear in magazines and newspapers, T-shirts, posters, bags, LED screens, outdoor displays on bus and railway stations, as well as on building façades.
