Untitled (No), from Untitled (We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard) portfolio

Kruger uses photographs and satirical phrases from the mass media to raise questions about power and social relationships. Her interplay of image and text deliberately recalls the sleek style of advertising (she once worked as a graphic designer for Conde’ Nast Publications) so that the viewer is apt to feel familiar with and drawn to her images. The nine photos in this series, each cropped for dramatic emphasis, are overlaid with printed text to make the sentence “We will no longer be seen and not heard.” Some of the illustrations correspond to sign language for the deaf while others do not, suggesting that, to the artist, personal communication may be misleading. The use of the personal pronoun “we” is meant to include the viewer, whose voice joins in spreading the warning that “we” will resist oppression. The statement seems addressed to a vaguely sinister audience, to the “you” out there who are strong and who take advantage of the weak.