In advance of the midterms, Barbara Kruger reprises MOCA mural that asks 'Who is beyond the law?
Department of Art Professor Barbara Kruger has been known for her bold work that questions and critiques politics and culture for decades. The work she created in the 1990s continues to be resonant and relevant in 2018. MOCA Los Angeles is recreating Untitled (Questions), a mural by Kruger that appeared on what is now the Geffen Contemporary from 1990–1992. The reprisal will be on view until the 2020 presidential elections.
"There are more iconic years: 1945, which marked the end of a world war, and 1968, with its roiling protest movements. But 1990 also marked an important social and political moment. The Soviet Union was falling apart. HIV became one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States. And the U.S. was heading toward a war with Iraq — the first one, led by President George H.W. Bush.
National Guardsmen cross the street near Barbara Kruger's mural on the fourth day of the Los Angeles riots in 1992. (Gary Leonard) 'It was Bush 1 and everyone was wearing flags,' recalls artist Barbara Kruger. 'And, omigod, the war. It was just horrific.'
It was in that climate that the artist painted a mural on the south facade of what was then known as the Temporary Contemporary, the Little Tokyo branch (now known as the Geffen Contemporary) of the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. The nearly three-story-high mural, in ways both oblique and direct, tackled issues of power, corruption, gender and race."— Carolina Miranda, October 18, 2018
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Los Angeles Times website.
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