How do I get a high-quality print of Barbara Krueger’s Questions?

August 26, 2020 3:35 PM

I really like Brabara Kruger’s Untitled (Questions). I’d like to get a high-quality reproduction of it, but am unclear how. Right now, the best method would seem to be to get my hands on a high-resolution photo of the current version at MOCA and then get it custom printed at some good printer. Does that sound correct? Do you know the right way to go about this?
posted by Going To Maine to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Seems like a fun piece :)

The issue with the photos of the building version is that the ones I'm seeing don't seem to be head on at the image and the aspect ratio is unusual, so the print would be a bit off I think.

You could use the image you have, or the one here : https://images.app.goo.gl/cYiXpH3bjzyBVLt18

And visit a local printer. They'd be able to plot it in a poster, perhaps a glossy one. Hard to say how big you could get it before losing resolution. Probably not much bigger than two pieces of copy paper combined.

That said of you blew it up bigger and lost a little of the resolution, the text would still be read-able, because the piece is clear and uncrowded.

You can actually get things like this printed on a metal plate, which might be really cool. Shutterfly is one vendor of that.
posted by jander03 at 9:58 PM on August 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

Here is an image with higher resolution: https://guernica-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/05643-bk-high-res.jpg
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:12 AM on August 27, 2020

Since this is a site-specific installation, it seems like the best way to honor the artist's intent (and to avoid moral/legal issues of reproducing the art without their permission) would be to print a photo showing the whole building, not attempting to just show the words. Also for moral reasons, I would buy the rights to the photo from a photographer or MOCA, unless you're in LA and can take the photo yourself. I kind of like the photos that Gene Ogami took of the 90s version.
posted by pinochiette at 7:06 AM on August 27, 2020 [1 favorite]