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What font is used in Barbara Kruger’s art?

Last updated: April 16, 2025
Paintings, Sculptures
Activist art, Art exhibitions, Art in Melbourne, Art on billboards, Artworks & exhibitions in Australia, Artworks & exhibitions in New York, Barbara Kruger's artworks & exhibitions, Conceptual art, Exhibitions at Kunsthaus Bregenz, Groundbreaking art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Schirn Kunsthalle, Sprüth Magers, Text-based art, The Pictures Generation
5 min read
Barbara Kruger - Untitled (Your body is a battleground), 1989
1 Barbara Kruger – Untitled (Your body is a battleground), 1989
    • 1.Introduction
    • 2.How Kruger influenced culture
    • 3.What font is used in Barbara Kruger’s art?
    • 4.What makes her style unique?
    • 5.What makes her work so powerful
    • 6.About the artist
    • 7.Videos: Barbara Kruger speaks about her work

Introduction

Barbara Kruger’s 1 art is easily one of the most recognizable on the planet. Characterized by the bold white Futura 23 Oblique and sometimes caps locked sans serif, her artwork forces audiences to take a hard look at the institutions that she satirizes. Both direct and political, her art is designed to question the modern political and democratic process while challenging societal notions of sexism, consumerism 4 and corruption.

Barbara Kruger – I shop therefore I am, 1987, screenprint on vinyl, 125 x 125 cm
2 Barbara Kruger – I shop therefore I am, 1987, screenprint on vinyl, 125 x 125 cm, photo: CC BY 2.0 3 by krossbow 4
Barbara Kruger - We don't need another hero, 1985
5 Barbara Kruger – We don’t need another hero, 1985
Barbara Kruger - Untitled (Money can buy you love), 1985
6 Barbara Kruger – Untitled (Money can buy you love), 1985
Barbara Kruger - Talk Is Cheap, 1985
7 Barbara Kruger – Talk Is Cheap, 1985

How Kruger influenced culture

Thanks to powerful slogans like “Money can buy you love”, as well as “I shop therefore I am 5”6, her artwork can be found all over the globe in famous art spaces and on the surfaces and roofs of certain buildings. Today, her iconoclastic controversies have become so popular with contemporary audiences, much more than they were all those years when she started out. As a result, musicians and brands have replicated her work numerous times, most notably currently being the distinguished skate brand known as Supreme.

Barbara Kruger - Sunglasses by Freeway Eyewear and ForYourArt
8 Barbara Kruger – Sunglasses by Freeway Eyewear and ForYourArt, benefitting national arts organizations including the Art Production Fund, the Hammer Museum, LACMA, photo: Give Good Art
Barbara Kruger - black Sunglasses by Freeway Eyewear
9 Barbara Kruger – Black Sunglasses by Freeway Eyewear, photo: Artware Editions
Barbara Kruger - Untitled (Don't be a jerk), billboard, Melbourne, Australia, 1996
10 Barbara Kruger – Untitled (Don’t be a jerk), billboard, Melbourne, Australia, 1996
Barbara Kruger's work on the exterior of the Beverly Center, 2017
11 Barbara Kruger’s work on the exterior of the Beverly Center, 2017

What font is used in Barbara Kruger’s art?

As stated earlier, Barbara primarily uses slogans written in oblique Futura bold type or sans serif in caps lock to communicate her messages. The backgrounds against which she embellishes her phrases are legible and usually accompanied by a color palette of reds, blacks and whites.

Barbara Kruger - Untitled (Let Go), 2004
12 Barbara Kruger – Untitled (Let Go), 2004
Barbara Kruger - Untitled (Beneath You), 2015
13 Barbara Kruger – Untitled (Beneath You), 2015

What makes her style unique?

Most of the slogans are pasted across black and white photographs derived from mid-century magazines. Like other pop artists that were successful before her, such as Andy Warhol 7, Kruger has managed to develop a style that is distinctly hers. This probably explains why it has been so easy for her style to be recreated beyond galleries to become included in both mainstream and digital culture.

Barbara Kruger at Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2014
14 Barbara Kruger – Installation view, Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2014, photo: Christian Hinz
Barbara Kruger at Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2014
15 Barbara Kruger – Installation view, Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2014, photo: Christian Hinz
Barbara Kruger at Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2014
16 Barbara Kruger – Installation view, Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2014, photo: Christian Hinz
Barbara Kruger at Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2014
17 Barbara Kruger – Installation view, Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2014, photo: Christian Hinz

What makes her work so powerful

In juxtaposing phrases with black and white photography, Kruger borrows from her experience in advertising and graphic design to disrupt the voice of today’s mass media. She delivers her messages directly to her audience as she often uses phrases like ’we’ and ’you’ to discuss central issues in society. Because of her bold use of fonts and her short but powerful slogans, the audience never ignores her work.

Barbara Kruger at Sprüth Magers, 2017
18 Barbara Kruger – Installation view, Sprüth Magers, 2017, photo: Timo Ohler
Barbara Kruger at Sprüth Magers, 2017
19 Barbara Kruger – Installation view, Sprüth Magers, 2017, photo: Timo Ohler
Barbara Kruger at Sprüth Magers, 2017
20 Barbara Kruger – Installation view, Sprüth Magers, 2017, photo: Timo Ohler
Barbara Kruger at Sprüth Magers, 2017
21 Barbara Kruger – Installation view, Sprüth Magers, 2017, photo: Timo Ohler

About the artist

Barbara began making her ground-breaking artwork during the 1970s after a long career in the magazine industry as a designer and picture editor. After her professional experience working in an industry that is all about perfection and consumerism, Kruger was inspired to create art that would question these points of view. Aside from being featured in some of the top art spaces in the world, her work has also been printed on several mediums, including films, tote bags, and interior work.

Barbara Kurger - Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2010, photo Norbert Miguletz
22 Barbara Kruger at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2010, photo: Norbert Miguletz
Barbara Kurger - Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2010, photo Norbert Miguletz
23 Barbara Kruger at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2010, photo: Norbert Miguletz
Barbara Kruger - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2012
24 Barbara Kruger – Installation view, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2012
Barbara Kruger - Modern Art Oxford, 2014
25 Barbara Kruger- Installation view, Modern Art Oxford, 2014
Barbara Kruger at Museet for Religiøs Kunst, 2017
26 Barbara Kruger at Museet for Religiøs Kunst, Lemvig, Dänemark, 2017, photo: Henrik Vinther Krogh

Videos: Barbara Kruger speaks about her work

YouTube video
6 min 14 sec
YouTube video
3 min 34 sec

All images by Barbara Kruger unless otherwise noted.
More by Barbara Kruger

Citation

Footnotes

1. https://publicdelivery.org/tag/barbara-kruger/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futura_(typeface)
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futura_(typeface)
4. https://publicdelivery.org/tag/art-consumerism/
5. https://publicdelivery.org/barbara-kruger-i-shop/
6. https://publicdelivery.org/barbara-kruger-i-shop/
7. https://publicdelivery.org/tag/andy-warhol/
1. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-Untitled-Your-body-is-a-battleground-1989.jpg ↩
2. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Barbara-Kruger-–-I-shop-therefore-I-am-1987-screenprint-on-vinyl-125-x-125-cm-scaled.jpg ↩
3. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ ↩
4. https://www.flickr.com/people/krossbow/ ↩
5. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-We-dont-need-another-hero-1985.jpg ↩
6. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-Untitled-Money-can-buy-you-love-1985.jpg ↩
7. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-Talk-Is-Cheap-1985.jpg ↩
8. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-Sunglasses-by-Freeway-Eyewear-and-ForYourArt.jpg ↩
9. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-black-Sunglasses-by-Freeway-Eyewear.jpg ↩
10. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-Untitled-Dont-be-a-jerk-billboard-Melbourne-Australia-1996.jpg ↩
11. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Krugers-work-on-the-exterior-of-the-Beverly-Center-2017.jpg ↩
12. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-Untitled-Let-Go-2004.jpg ↩
13. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-Untitled-Beneath-You-2015.jpg ↩
14. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-at-Kunsthaus-Bregenz-2014-1-photo-Christian-Hinz.jpg ↩
15. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-at-Kunsthaus-Bregenz-2014-2.jpg ↩
16. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-at-Kunsthaus-Bregenz-2014-3.jpg ↩
17. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-at-Kunsthaus-Bregenz-2014-4.jpg ↩
18. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-at-Sprüth-Magers-2017-1.jpg ↩
19. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-at-Sprüth-Magers-2017-2.jpg ↩
20. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-at-Sprüth-Magers-2017-3.jpg ↩
21. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-at-Sprüth-Magers-2017-4.jpg ↩
22. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kurger-Schirn-Kunsthalle-Frankfurt-2010-photo-Norbert-Miguletz-1.jpg ↩
23. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kurger-Schirn-Kunsthalle-Frankfurt-2010-photo-Norbert-Miguletz-2.jpg ↩
24. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-Hirshhorn-Museum-and-Sculpture-Garden-2012.jpg ↩
25. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-Modern-Art-Oxford-2014.jpg ↩
26. https://publicdelivery.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barbara-Kruger-at-Museet-for-Religiøs-Kunst-2017-photo-Henrik-Vinther-Krogh.jpg ↩
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