Barbara Kruger Unveils 'The History of Tears' Installation in Paris

Artist Barbara Kruger has unveiled a significant new installation titled 'The History of Tears' within the rotunda of the Bourse de Commerce in Paris. This immersive artwork utilizes Kruger's signature bold aesthetic, characterized by black, white, and red typography, to engage with profound themes. The installation's title is derived from the phrase "Who Will Write the History of Tears?", a recurring motif in Kruger's oeuvre, underscoring the provocative nature of the exhibition. Visitors to the Bourse de Commerce are enveloped by a continuous stream of words, phrases, and messages that confront issues such as alienation, violence, power dynamics, and sexuality. The artwork prominently features quotes from influential texts, including George Orwell's "1984" and Aimé Césaire's "Journal of a Homecoming," both of which serve as potent warnings against the destructive consequences of oppression. Kruger's installation transforms the architectural space, with the 24 display cases in the passage repurposed as illuminated light boxes. These boxes present stark messages like "MORALIZE IT" and "KISS IT," amplifying the artist's direct communication style and flooding the environment with striking pronouncements. Complementing these elements are two video works, including "Power, Pleasure, Desire, Disgust" from 1996, strategically positioned within the exhibition space. Kruger described the installation as "an ongoing deluge of the eyes. A fountain of loss and fear. But also of power, pleasure, desire and disgust." She further elaborated that this reservoir of emotion can accumulate through various forms of domination, both on a global and domestic scale, and manifests during moments of intense global violence and brutality, as well as within the intimate cruelties of personal relationships. She stated that the work "can show and tell us how we were, how we are and how we will be to one another." In addition to the rotunda installation, a separate exhibition titled 'Remember Me' is also on view. This exhibition, inspired by Kruger's 1988/2020 work of the same name, celebrates the 200-year history of photography. The Bourse de Commerce, a historic Parisian building housing the Pinault Collection, provides a grand and architecturally significant backdrop for Kruger's impactful artistic statement, which engages with both historical and contemporary societal concerns through her distinctive visual language.