Barbara Kruger's 'Untitled (I shop therefore I am)' (1987) is a defining work of 1980s appropriation art. Drawing on her background as a magazine graphic designer, Kruger photomontages a hand holding out a red card bearing the Cartesian pastiche 'I shop therefore I am' in her signature red-and-white Futura Bold type. Hijacking the language of advertising to indict it, the image skewers Reagan-era American consumerism and the gendered politics of the female image in a single compact address. Editions of the work are held by institutions including MoMA, the Whitney, and The Broad.

Exhibition Venue

The Broad

Los Angeles, United States