It’s possibly one of the best-known pieces of art world folklore that the famous US artist Barbara Kruger never set out to be an artist-icon. Rather, she spent years doing graphic design work for women’s magazines before experimenting with the fashion world vernacular to create her own promotional poster for a Women’s Rights March in 1989. She then adapted that to make a large-scale print-based installation artwork.
Ferrier’s latest series comprises live performance works, photography, sculpture and paintings, and includes a number of portraits where the artist poses with her four female performer-collaborators in various states of undress. While their nude bodies are clearly being looked upon by the viewer, those bodies are emblazoned with their own sets of eyes, which purposefully return that gaze.
These empowering images of women’s bodies raise the question of how Ferrier sees Kruger’s “battleground” catchcry as still being relevant in today’s world.
