The Modern Art Notes Podcast

As ever.

Episode No. 36 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast featured Barbara Kruger, an artist who dislikes the term ‘feminist artist,’ but whose art has given image to feminist thought for several decades. Kruger’s most recent commission, Belief + Doubt, is now on view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. 

One of the topics Kruger and I discussed was the genesis and development of Kruger’s interest in works that deal with sociopolitical themes — and male-dominated power structures in particular. Given the outrageous, rape-excusing statements and positions made by GOP U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin and presumptive GOP vice-presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, today seemed like a good day to share the Kruger show.

Kruger was the subject of an Ann Goldstein-curated 1999 retrospective at MOCA, an exhibition that traveled to the Whitney Museum of American Art. Her installation at — and actually on — the Italian Pavilion at the 2005 Venice Biennale helped her win the Biennale’s lifetime achievement award.

To download the Kruger program directly, click here. To download or subscribe to The Modern Art Notes Podcast via iTunes, click here. To subscribe to The MAN Podcast’s RSS feed, click here. You can see images of artworks discussed on the show here.

Image: Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your body is a battleground), 1989. Collection of The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica, Calif.