The poetic word and the visual form of photography, intersections: Barbara Kruger and Carrie Mae Weems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9125.v31i1p238-253Keywords:
photography, poetics, Barbara Kruger, Carrie Mae WeemsAbstract
This essay analyzes the poetic relations between word and image in the work of American artists Barbara Kruger and Carrie Mae Weems. In Kruger, text and photography produce a feminist and political critique to destabilize the images and figurations of the female body in patriarchal-based capitalism. In Weems’ works, the poetic text reconfigures the historical meaning of the photographs, prompting discussion of race, gender, and forms of memory. In both authors, word and image, together, create a tension that displaces the original and natural meaning of the images.
Downloads
References
ARRUDA, Lina Alves; COUTO, Maria de Fátima Morethy. Ativismo artístico: engajamento político e questões de gênero na obra de Barbara Kruger. Estudos Feministas, Florianópolis, v. 19, n. 2, p. 389-402, 2011.
FOUCAULT, Michel. Isto não é um cachimbo. Tradução de Jorge Coli. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1988.
GEYH, Paula. Barbara Kruger. In: BERTENS, Hans; NATOLI, Joseph (ed.). Postmodernism: The Key Figures. Malden: Blackwell, 2002. p. 195-200.
KRUGER, Barbara. Untitled (Your Body is a Battleground). 1989. Fotomontagem, serigrafia sobre vinil, 284,5 × 284,5 cm. Coleção do The Broad, Los Angeles.
KRUGER, Barbara. Who Becomes a “Murderer” in Post-Roe America? In: MANTHA, Priyanka. Who Becomes a “Murderer” in Post-Roe America? New York Press Room, New York, 9 maio 2022. Disponível em: https://nymag.com/press/2022/05/on-the-cover-of-new-york-magazine-barbara-kruger.html. Acesso em: 2 abr. 2026.
LEWIS, Sarah Elizabeth. The Insistent Reveal: Louis Agassiz, Joseph T. Zealy, Carrie Mae Weems, and the Politics of Undress in the Photography of Racial Science. In: BARBASH, Ilisa; ROGERS, Molly; WILLIS, Deborah (ed.). To Make Their Way in the World: The Enduring Legacy of the Zealy Daguerreotypes. Cambridge: Peabody Museum Press, 2020. p. 297-327.
LINKER, Kate. Signs. In: LINKER, Kate; KRUGER, Barbara. Love for Sale: The Words and Pictures of Barbara Kruger. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990.
LINKER, Kate; KRUGER, Barbara. Love for Sale: The Words and Pictures of Barbara Kruger. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990.
MITCHELL, William John Thomas. Image Science: Iconology, Visual Culture, and Media Aesthetics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2015.
MITCHELL, William John Thomas. O que é uma imagem? Tradução de Luiz Alexandre da Silva Rosado. Espaço, Rio de Janeiro, n. 52, p. 25-66, 2019.
MURRAY, Yxta Maya. From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried: Carrie Mae Weems’ Challenge to the Harvard Archive. Unbound, Cambridge, v. 8, p. 1-28, 2013.
WEEMS, Carrie Mae. Carrie Mae Weems: The Kitchen Table Series. Bologna: Damiani, 2016.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Arlindo Rebechi Junior
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
I authorize the publication of the submitted article and soon the copyrights to the magazine, in the printed and electronic version, if it is approved after the evaluation of the reviewers.
I understand that readers may use this article without prior request, provided the source and authorship are mentioned. Readers are not authorized to use this article for reproduction, in whole or in part, for commercial purposes.
