The juxtaposition of word and image in Barbara Kruger's highly recognizable
work is derived from twelve years as a designer and photo editor for Conde
Nast publications. Short, pithy caption-like copy is scattered over
fragmented and enlarged photographs appropriated from various media.
Usually declarative or accusatory in tone, these phrases posit an opposition
between the pronouns "you" and "we," which satirically refer to "men" and
"women." These humorous works suspend the viewer between the fascination
of the image and the indictment of the text while reminding us that language
and its use within culture to construct and maintina proverbs, jobs, jokes,
myths, and history reinforce the interests and perspective of those who
control it ((Day 69).
(--Cf. John Berger's Ways of Seeing Chap 3.; Craig Owen, "The Discourse
of Others," The Anti-Aesthetic. Ed. Hal Foster. pp.
65-90.