barbara kruger returns to serpentine with first solo london show in over 20 years

Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. by BARBARA KRUGER

Serpentine Galleries presents Barbara Kruger’s Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You., the artist’s first solo institutional show in London in over two decades. The site-specific exhibition transforms a unique selection of Kruger’s iconic works into video installations spanning the entire Serpentine building, both indoors and outdoors. The space is filled with a compelling array of moving image works, and multiple soundscapes, boasting Kruger’s signature aesthetic which draws from graphic design, advertising, and magazines. The artist’s influential pieces are ingeniously showcased on large-scale, immersive wraparound screens at Outernet Arts, as well as throughout the Serpentine structure, bookshop, and exterior banners.

Barbara Kruger; BARBARA KRUGER: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. Installation view, The Art Institute of Chicago – AIC, Chicago, September 19, 2021–January 24, 2022 courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers | photo: The Art Institute of Chicago

Barbara Kruger’s return to Serpentine

Barbara Kruger’s (find more here) exhibition marks her return at Serpentine South (find more here), and a significant juncture in Kruger’s artistic trajectory, harkening back to her participation in the 1994 group exhibition Wall to Wall at the same venue. The latest site-specific showcase, extending into the public realm with Outernet Arts, features Kruger’s iconic pieces reconfigured as video works, including notable pieces such as Untitled (I shop therefore I am) (1987/2019) and Untitled (Your body is a battleground) (1989/2019). Rooted in the language of bold graphic design, Kruger’s work delves into complex socio-cultural dynamics related to power, gender, class, and capital.

‘It would be great if my work became archaic, if the issues that they try to present, the commentary that I’m trying to suggest was no longer pertinent,’ says Kruger. ‘Unfortunately, that is not the case at this point.’

Barbara Kruger FOREVER Installation view, Sprüth Magers, Berlin, September 16, 2017-January 20, 2018, courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers | photo: Timo Ohler

‘Serpentine is thrilled to present Barbara Kruger’s first institutional exhibition in London in more than twenty years. This show will extend beyond gallery walls to engage Kensington Gardens and other sites around London, building on a history of public art collaborations I am proud to have facilitated with Kruger in Los Angeles – from wrapping school buses with her signature larger than life graphic texts in 2012 to staging massive billboards and murals in 2020 for the second edition of Frieze Los Angeles.’ shares Bettina Korek, CEO of Serpentine.

‘Barbara Kruger is one of the most transformative artists of our time. For her exhibitionThinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You., at Serpentine, the artist connects to the South Gallery’s architecture visually and sonically, and draws the viewer into the space, reflecting on context, histories, cultures, and hierarchies,’ says Hans Ulrich, Artistic Director of Serpentine. ‘The future is invented with fragments from the past, and in her recent work, which is seen here for the first time outside the US, Kruger reanimates some of her previous works through puzzles, aerosols, and other distortions. Summarising her practice, Kruger told me in a recent interview that her art is about how we are to one another’. For more than half a century, she has created a commentary on living in our times.’

Barbara Kruger Untitled (No Comment), 2020, Three-channel video installation, colour, sound, 9 min. 25 sec. Installation view, BARBARA KRUGER: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You., The Art Institute of Chicago – AIC, Chicago, September 19, 2021-January 24, 2022, courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers | photo: The Art Institute of Chicago

Barbara Kruger, Barbara Kruger: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You., Installation view, Los Angeles County Museum of Art – LACMA, Los Angeles, March 20-July 17, 2022, courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers, Photo: Museum Associates/LACMA

Barbara Kruger Untitled (The work is about…), 1979/2020 Single-channel video, silent, 5 min. 38 sec. Installation view, David Zwirner Gallery, New York, June 30-August 12, 2022, courtesy the artist, Sprüth Magers and David Zwirner Gallery, | photo: Maris Hutchinson

Barbara Kruger Untitled (Artforum), 2016/2020 Two-channel video installation, silent, 4 min. 42 sec. Installation view, BARBARA KRUGER: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. The Art Institute of Chicago – AIC, Chicago, September 19, 2021-January 24, 2022, courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers | photo: The Art Institute of Chicago

Barbara Kruger Untitled (No Comment), 2020 Three-channel video installation, colour, sound, 9 min. 25 sec. Installation view, BARBARA KRUGER: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. The Art Institute of Chicago – AIC, Chicago, September 19, 2021-January 24, 2022, courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers | photo: The Art Institute of Chicago

Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Our Leader), 1987/2020, Single-channel video on LED panel, sound, 24 sec. 350.1 × 200.1 cm 137 7/8 × 78 3/4 inches, Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers

project info: 

name: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You.
artist: Barbara Kruger
location: Serpentine South Gallery in London
dates: 1 February – 17 March 2024