Conceptual artist Barbara Kruger is most famous within the streetwear community for inspiring Supreme‘s famed red and white logo that makes used of the Futura Bold Oblique font.
In February 2017, Supreme created a big stir around the city when it sold MetroCards featuring its logo. Kruger has tapped into the idea to create her own MetroCard, which will be sold starting November 1st at four stations, made in conjunction with a series of works Kruger is creating for the Performa Biennial.
There are two versions of the card printed with questions that have been included in Kruger’s art throughout the years. According to the NY Times, “Who is healed? Who is housed? Who is silent? Who speaks?” takes inspiration from Kruger’s 1991 work, “Untitled (Questions).” Kruger’s “Whose values?” was featured on a 1992 Newsweek cover in response to vice president Dan Quayle’s attack on single mothers.
The Kruger MetroCards will be sold through vending machines at Queensboro Plaza, Broadway-Lafayette Street, East Broadway and the B/C station at 116th Street. “I tried to have a range of stations to have the most varied mix of riders,” Kruger told the NY Times.
Kruger has said very little about Supreme’s use of her art for its logo, but told the NY Times, “I never cared at all. I find it amusing.”
Her current tone has softened since 2013, when she responded to a Complex inquiry, asking her thoughts on Supreme suing fellow streetwear label Married to the Mob for copyright infringement for selling a Supreme Bitch logo. In her email, she wrote, “What a ridiculous clusterfuck of totally uncool jokers. I make my work about this kind of sadly foolish farce. I’m waiting for all of them to sue me for copyright infringement.”
When we followed up with Married to the Mob designer Leah McSweeney on the dust-up last year, she told us that in the midst of the controversy, Kruger through an intermediary had reached out to her for a t-shirt. Alas, the t-shirt never was delivered.
For information on Kruger’s work at Performa, visit 17.performa-arts.org.
![The Hundreds, founded by Bobby Kim and Ben Shenassafar in 2003, closed its Fairfax flagship store before making the announcement public. The store, which opened on Fairfax Avenue in LA in 2011, was a cornerstone of streetwear culture. Bobby reflected on the closure, the evolution of streetwear, and more in a thoughtful note on his Monologue Substack. You can read a preview in the next slides.
In an interview with GQ, Bobby announced that longtime team member David Rivera will be taking over as the brand’s creative lead, stating, "I am effectively stepping back as far as creative control and oversight of how The Hundreds looks and feels from here on forward. This is the first time that someone else has full creative control, and that’s David Rivera. He’s been with us for more than half the existence of the company at this point. He grew up on the brand as a fan. He started off at the bottom as a photo assistant, and then he became an accessories designer and then an apparel designer. He’s worked every role in design, worked his way up to the point of creative director where we now have entrusted him with the brand over the last couple of years."
"Me relinquishing control over it is the best thing that could ever happen for the brand at this point in time. Souls of Mischief, this rap group, has a song called “Limitations” where they say, Emcees should know their limitations. I know my limitations. Do I think I know how to design well? Do I think I understand street fashion well? Absolutely. But am I the one to do it the best for The Hundreds at this point in time? I’m not, and David is. Having to swallow that pill was incredibly humbling."
"If it were up to me, we would still have a store on Fairfax and Rosewood, but that’s not where streetwear is at anymore. That’s not where The Hundreds is at. That customer doesn’t even exist. That customer has grown up. [We want to] keep this thing going and see where it takes us. Now, let’s see where David takes us.
I still want to be a part of it, and I want to be enjoying the ride."
#thehundreds](https://scontent-ord5-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.75761-15/482279121_18490260622054586_1640295029541387076_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=lqaTRWp5sbwQ7kNvgG0SLHU&_nc_oc=AdjrbfFxV5hhWTApoGT8uU3tjAM_6gI1gki0-fW20_tmEi-AAPpb3RUkQQIzRnpn9r0&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.cdninstagram.com&edm=AM6HXa8EAAAA&_nc_gid=ADDwzgQDtPAlWfOG8jbrBfK&oh=00_AYDjLW1PijhJA4g2wL44OjFrwof9hVYCR0XC0d9VVJY67w&oe=67CC87B3)
