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1983

Untitled (We are your circumstantial evidence)

Barbara Kruger

American, born 1945

Image 1 of 41 / 4

Kruger is one of several artists who turned to advertising and pop culture as sources for her art in the 1970s. Printed at billboard scale and framed in bright red, the phrase “We are your circumstantial evidence” seems at first glance to be a strident declaration. However, the image and text do not match up in any obvious way, making their relationship unclear. Moreover, the words “we” and “your” allow the viewer to assume either position in relation to the sentence, which might refer to power relations between two groups (for instance, women and men) or to the ways in which photographs have been used as evidence of supposed truths.

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We Are Your Circumstantial Evidence

In this picture, with its legal language and violent overtones, Barbara Kruger demands that we become aware of women’s social roles and status, which are still disturbing.
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