Shepard Fairey and Barbara Kruger.

Here is yet another extract from an essay in the making! Another comparison, as you can tell... I like those. Here goes nothing...
Barbara Kruger’s works are highly recognisable and energetic; embodying a scattered juxtaposition of both words and images that have been appropriated from various forms of media and popular culture. The works are originally derived from her experience working as a designer, and are usually accusatory or declarative in their delivery and tone. Kruger is a conceptual artist whose pieces often include black and white photographs with bold red overlaid captions, usually featuring pronouns such as ‘we’, ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘they’ and ‘your’. Her main motif is the criticism of sexism and the circulation of power within cultures. Kruger’s 1981 piece, ‘Your comfort is my silence’ [1C] shows the placement of shapes blocking the man’s eyes which eliminates his identity and reduces him to a generic symbol of masculine dominance and control. Kruger keeps her bold statements somewhat cryptic, and forces the viewers to construct a meaning from their own previous experiences; therefore forcing them to actively participate in her work.
It is the works of Kruger, and old Soviet Union communist propaganda posters, such as the works of Alexander Rodchenko, that have paved the way for artists such as Shepard Fairey. Without this work, the birth of ‘Brand Obama’ would never have been born. Fairey has found his name with a carefully nurtured reputation as a mischievous street artist, most well known for his ‘Obey’ street posters and Obama ‘Hope’ print [1D]. Unlike Kruger, Fairey is more obvious in his message and has taken a more active role in the philosophies of commercial advertising and feels his work has a connection to companies culturally, and has said his work is ‘...designed to question conspicuous consumption’ [b]. As a result of this, on numerous occasions, Fairey has been accused of plagiarism. The re-use and appropriation of images in todays society has reached a crucial new level; the repetitive distortion of history could prove damaging to art, leaving the embedded political and social messages overlooked and therefore become meaningless. Kruger’s work rejects the majority and raises questions about gender equality, consumerism and stereotypes.

Kruger once said, ‘I had to figure out how to bring the world into my work’. Both artists use this type of appropriation as a focus; they pull from the works of others and the worlds they depict to create their own work. They both utilize historic images in order to interact with current global issues. Both artists, but mostly Fairey, and Kruger mainly by advertising, have been heavily influenced by history during their peak working years, however this does not mean they can provide us with an accurate critical assessment of whereabouts in the grand scheme of things we all stand. Simply, their attention is focused on current issues of that time. Even though the idea behind the works are similar; bringing issues to the forefront of our minds, it is Fairey’s Obama ‘Hope’ and ‘Progress’ prints that focus our attention on current political issues, whether that be in a global or local setting. The ‘Obama’ prints further support my argument; they do not suggest Fairey is a genius in the context of politics, it just goes to show that any artist, with passion and determination can attempt to provide us with a painting that makes us critically assess where we stand today.