The Barbara Kruger and Judy Chicago Effect: Why My Art Refuses to Leave Women Out of the Frame
When an avenue of sculptures and an educational inspiration wall wipe out every trace of female impact, I realized that my mission with Role Model Women is not just design - it is a consciousness correction
The Diary of an Artist - Marina Manukian's blog 0019 - Activist Feminist Art
The Diary of an Artist - Marina Manukian's blog 0019 - Activist Feminist Art
The Moment Anger Turns into Artistic Purpose
There are moments when reality strikes you all at once, without warning. You walk through a public space - a place meant to represent wisdom, culture, history, or progress - and suddenly you feel that something profound is missing. Something jarring, something asking you to stay silent, to ignore it, to just keep walking. But I cannot keep walking.
This happened to me not long ago during a tour of an impressive cultural and educational complex. I walked down a well-tended avenue of artistic sculptures. All of them were crafted from noble materials, masterfully sculpted, elevated on the wings of history. But as I began reading the explanatory plaques next to the statues, my heart refused to believe it: an entire avenue dedicated exclusively to philosophers and thinkers. Their place in history is respected - rich in history, science, philosophy, and astronomy. But when I finished taking in all the statues along the path, I realized the bitter truth: not a single woman is there. Not a single female philosopher, poet, thinker, leader, or researcher. No representation whatsoever of the female figures who shaped Eastern and global culture.
As if women never existed. As if human thought, spirit, and philosophy were written exclusively by one gender.
This feeling repeated itself shortly after, during a visit to a prestigious educational center. I entered a central space where interior designers had invested immense thought into creating an "inspiration wall". The wall was exquisitely designed - stunning typography, modern colors, focused lighting. Groundbreaking quotes meant to empower students and researchers were scattered across the wall. I went through quote after quote: ancient Greek philosophers, Renaissance scientists, 20th-century political leaders. And who was missing from the wall? All the women. Not a single quote by a woman. Not Marie Curie, not Virginia Woolf, not Ruth Bader Ginsburg and not even Golda Meir.
In those moments, something inside me boils. This is not just fleeting frustration, it is a deep anger that shakes the foundations. The first thought that flashes through my mind is: How is this still happening in 2026? How is it possible that in spaces meant to shape the consciousness of the next generation, half of the world's population is simply erased from collective memory?
Yet immediately following the anger comes a clarifying realization. This moment, when visual blindness is revealed in all its ugliness, is precisely the moment that reminds me why I wake up in the morning. It tells me loud and clear: Your work matters. Your art is not in vain. Your brand, Role Model Women, is not just decoration for a home or office - it is an act of historical correction.
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Barbara Kruger’s Lesson: Image, Text, and the Visual Battlefield
To understand where my style comes from and how my artistic path took shape, I must take you back to my university days at Tel Aviv University. I studied art history there for my Bachelor’s degree, later continuing on to visual communication and digital illustration studies at Bezalel, and product design at HIT. During my university studies, I was assigned to write a seminar paper on four postmodern women artists. Among them all, there was one artist who changed my worldview beyond recognition: Barbara Kruger.
Kruger did not come from the ivory tower of traditional plastic art. She began her professional career as a graphic designer and visual editor for publishing magazines. When I discovered this fact, something powerful happened in my heart. I told myself: If Barbara Kruger started out as a graphic designer and grew from the realm of applied design into the heart of international artistic and activist practice - then I can too.
What captivated me about Kruger's art was her ability to take a poster and turn it into a conduit for piercing protest. Her iconic work, "Your body is a battleground", created in 1989 for the pro-choice march in Washington, D.C., is a brilliant example of visual power. Kruger took a black-and-white image split in two, and overlaid it with sharp, incisive text in bold typography across a striking red stripe. That red stripe was not merely a design element, it was a visual cry that makes it impossible for the gaze to look away. It is remarkable to see how, in 2024, that exact same poster was translated into the digital space with shifting sentences, continuing to resonate with burning human rights issues.
Kruger taught me that the visual gaze is never neutral. The visual language surrounding us - in advertisements, galleries, and the public sphere - shapes our consciousness. If the space is filled solely with images of men, consciousness grows accustomed to thinking that only men are the makers of history.
In her early photographic projects, Kruger photographed the exteriors of building windows and paired them with short, fabricated texts about the fictional people living inside, their relationships, and their secrets. The photographs were real, the stories were products of her imagination. This connection between realistic photography and crafted narrative touched the depths of my soul, perhaps because I myself grew up in a world of photography.
My Father’s Studio: Black&White and the Yellow that Entered My Life
I am the daughter of a family portrait photographer. The long summer holidays of my childhood were not spent in ordinary summer camps, but inside my father’s studio. The studio was filled with the sounds of development, the scent of chemicals, studio lights, silhouettes, and games of light and shadow. There, I learned to look at human faces. I learned to recognize the spark in the eyes, the curve of the lips, the subtle expression that revealed the true character of the subject.
The meeting between Barbara Kruger’s inspiration and the memories from my father’s house shaped my early technique. When I began illustrating my first portraits, I used a minimalist style: clean black-and-white lines, accompanied by precise touches of gray tones. Black-and-white gave the portraits a timeless, classic, almost documentary quality. It stripped the subject of all background noise and focused entirely on character, spirit, and determination. To this day, this style holds a dear place in my heart, and I never tire of it.
Yet as time went on, and my artistic cry for the presence of women became more active, I felt that black and white needed an outburst of light. Thus, the color yellow entered my life and my art. Not the yellow of smoked gold or distant luxury, but a bold, warm, present, glowing, and uncompromising yellow. The yellow in my portraits is not merely a pigment - it is energy. It represents the spark, the sun, the light bursting forth from darkness. Yellow is the spotlight that refuses to let these figures fade into the gray background of history. It is presence, audacity, and the relentless reminder that a groundbreaking woman is a lighthouse of light.
Judy Chicago, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and the Unsettling Question
If Barbara Kruger was my lesson in visual language and typography, Judy Chicago is my lesson in fearless feminist activist presence.
Not long ago, I visited Judy Chicago’s exhibition in Israel. The first part was displayed at the Nissim Landau Gallery, and the second part was shown in the new wing of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. In one of the museum spaces, a moving video was screened showing Judy Chicago in conversation with Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, founder of the Russian protest band "Pussy Riot". Two women, activist leaders from different generations, discussing the status of women in the world. Judy Chicago said of Nadezhda’s book: "I read her book and felt that every word written in it was my own thoughts".
In the video, they answered a single unsettling question: "If women ruled the world?"
Their manifesto was powerful and touching. On a massive wall in the museum, the answers of women and men responding to that exact same question were displayed. I was very glad to see that the organizers chose to include men’s answers as well. Between us, we know what women think - we live it every single day. But seeing men who understand the importance of female leadership, who support this shift in consciousness - that warms the heart and offers hope.
The exhibition also featured a personal booth: a small room where every visitor could be filmed live and record their own personal answer.
Standing there, I thought of my own answer. My approach is one of healthy balance - 50/50. I believe in a world of equal leadership, harmony, and balance between the genders. A world where men and women lead together, shoulder to shoulder, out of mutual respect and cross-fertilization.
But until the world reaches that longed-for 50/50 balance, until we see equal representation in sculpture avenues, inspiration walls, boardrooms, and decision-making tables - I will continue to focus on Role Model Women. I will continue to paint, illustrate, design, and make groundbreaking women present in every possible space.
What Are Role Model Women, Really? Much More Than Pigments on Canvas
When people ask me what the essence of Role Model Women is, I answer immediately: The figures I paint are not decorations. They are real, powerful, emotional, and influential women. They are much more than pigments of color on a canvas or fabric. They are a living reflection of the values we must safeguard every day - courage, determination, compassion, freedom, initiative, and leadership.
When I design these portraits in my unique technique and style, I am not looking for sterile perfection or superficial beauty. I am looking for character. I am looking for the spark in the eyes, the struggle, the passion, and the feeling that even on our least glamorous days, we possess the power to change the order of the world.
My collection includes portraits of women who changed the face of history, culture, and science - from Frida Kahlo, Amelia Earhart, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Virginia Woolf, to our own Israeli heroines, groundbreaking women in society, security, medicine, and art.
When a woman hangs such a portrait in her living room, her office, or her boardroom, she is not merely adding a decorative element or a touch of color. She is inviting into her space the energy of a role model. This figure becomes a daily shot of strength. In moments of doubt, amid a mountain of tasks, during a challenging meeting, or when the path feels winding - you raise your eyes and meet the figure’s gaze. She reminds you who you truly are, what you are worth, and what you are capable of achieving.
These works are meant to remind each and every one of us that there is a glorious lineage of strong, wise, and passionate women standing behind us (and ahead of us).
Bringing Art Out of the Gallery and Into Daily Life
Yet my vision does not stop at the living room or office wall.
In the course of my work, I realized that sometimes we need this reminder not only when sitting before a wall, but precisely when stepping outside, into the battlefield of daily life. When we are on our way to a business meeting, standing in line, or reaching into our bags for a notebook or notepad.
That is why I decided to expand the boundaries of traditional art and turn the Role Model Women figures into a collection of useful accessories that carry inspiration:
High-quality cotton tote bags that bring art and message to city streets.
Notebooks and pocket pads where your plans, ideas, and next dreams are written.
Wallets, pencil cases, and designer coasters that add a touch of art and meaning to every small moment of the day.
When you carry a bag or notebook from this series, you are not just displaying aesthetic artistic taste - you are taking a stand. You are telling the world: I value quality, I am connected to the values of female leadership, and I refuse to let these figures fade away.
This is the complete synthesis of plastic art, product design, and visual communication. Art that does not remain locked inside a sterile museum or gallery, but breathes, moves, and makes an impact within life itself.
Call to Action – How Do We Change the Next Wall?
Friends, our public space will not change on its own.
When you enter a school, training center, office, or gallery and see an inspiration wall with not a single woman on it - do not stay silent. Ask the tough questions. Demand the representation owed to half of the population.
And when we design our private homes, our workspaces, or the gifts we give to people we love - we have an active opportunity to make a correction:
When you give a gift to a leading manager, an esteemed colleague, or a partner - you are not just giving a lovely item, you are telling her: "You are just as inspiring as the women in this series".
When you hang a portrait of a groundbreaking woman in a children's room or an office, you shape the consciousness of everyone who walks through that door.
The anger I feel at the sight of women's erasure from space is not destructive - it is creative anger. It is the material from which my colors, my typography, and my determination to keep creating are made.
Let us bring color, presence, and meaning into life together. Let us ensure that on the walls of tomorrow - no groundbreaking woman is left out.
For consultation and contact, send an email info@marin-arts.com
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