barbara kruger in taking place at the temporary stedelijk

‘past / present / future’ by barbara kruger, 2010 image © designboom

american artist barbara kruger’s installation — designed especially for the building’s largest gallery, known as the hall of honor — wraps the floor and walls with printed texts that speak directly and loudly to the spectator in a chorus of voices.

black-and-white barbara kruger-ified room image © designboom

images © designboom

text line among others: the illustration of a pathetic stereotype image © designboom

please touch image © designboom

her provocative, emotionally charged statements about how people regard and treat each other disrupt the decorum of a traditional museum space. bringing the world into her work and her work into the world, she confronts stereotypes and clichés, shattering them with a rigorous critique, a generous empathy and a sharp wit.

the temporary stedelijk at the stedelijk museum amsterdam august 28 , 2010 – january 9, 2011

the installation ‘past / present / future’ by barbara kruger is part of the current exhibition ‘taking place’ at the temporary stedelijk (the stedelijk museum amsterdam). by addressing its history, the spatial and temporal conditions of the unfinished building and the ways in which artists use, occupy and animate museum spaces, ‘taking place’ shows works by local, national and international contemporary artists, who range from well-known and established figures to emerging artists. the renovated gallery spaces on the ground and upper floors of the building, ultimately designated for the presentation of the museum’s collection of 19th- to 21st-century painting, are for this occasion used in an innovative and experimental way that takes advantage of their current state.

through newly commissioned site-specific works, historical reconstructions, video projections, audio work, architectural interventions, performances and graphic design, ‘taking place’ addresses the distinctive conditions of the building at this moment in time. another feature of ‘the temporary stedelijk’ is an opportunity to directly experience the luminous, gracefully proportioned gallery spaces themselves, some of which will remain empty in strategic intervals between these room-size installations.