Untitled (Your gaze hits the side of my face)
Item
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Title
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Untitled (Your gaze hits the side of my face)
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Description
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Untitled (Your gaze hits the side of my face) is a 1981 photo-and-text artwork by conceptual artist Barbara Kruger. It critques the objectifying "male gaze" in art and media, featuring a stylized female profile with text stacked on the left, highlighting the passive, objectified role of women in Western culture.
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Date
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1981
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Material
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Photostat (black and white photograph) with red painted frame.
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Measurements
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47.94 cm x 39.05 x 3.81 cm (18 7/8 inches x 15 3/8 inches x 1 1/2 inches)
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Analysis
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Text-based confrontation that exposes the power imbalance embedded in the act of looking and being looked at:
(21st century) In Untitled (Your gaze hits the side of my face), Kruger speaks directly to the viewer with clear language that interrupts passive looking. The phrase “your gaze hits the side of my face” highlights the unequal nature of looking, where the woman becomes an object to be examined instead of an equal. The cropped image breaks up the body, showing how women are often seen in pieces and under control. The work connects to the idea of the male gaze by showing how looking can be a way to dominate and possess. By doing this, it makes viewers notice their own role in objectifying others.
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