theattic.jezebel.com: In 1985, a group of artists formed the activist art group Guerrilla Girls, in response to a Museum of Modern Art exhibition of 169 artists with only 13 women and eight artists of color included. The anonymous group—composed mostly of artists using aliases borrowed from famous women artists, wearing gorilla masks to hide their identities—was hellbent on delivering institutional critique to the masses through striking advertisements that poked fun at the art world establishment while also calling out its deeply entrenched sexism and racism.
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I really liked one the first questions that the interviewer asked here, “When this group began in the early 1980s, did you two think you’d still be out here in 2020 fighting the same art world discrimination and sexism?” because whenever there is a movement or group like this, there is no way to prepare for how long one might need to be prepared to be involved. It was striking to see how after over thirty years, these activists were still just as passionate about the work they were doing, but they have still been able to shift their focus over the years. Beginning by just getting people to recognize that art is not a meritocracy, and moving to focus on the ingrained sexism and racism throughout the art industry explains how this group has remained both relevant and involved over several decades. I am excited to look further into this group and learn more about their work.
The first thing I thought of when hearing the headline was guerilla warfare tactics and in a way, it kind of connects. Guerilla warfare being smaller groups who come in and ambush with petty tactics which is, in a sense, what these women are doing. They are working in littler numbers and calling out bigger organizations for terrible business practices. Their question of “[do] women have to be naked to get into the Met?” really resonated with me. I have looked up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s gala every year with the dreams of one day going in person and yet I never realized how much they themselves are so androcentric. Their male dominated field inside the museum upsets me considering how many female designers work so hard for their pieces to be shown off on the carpet out front. If any one of the dresses made by a woman that was present on steps of The Met was shown inside, I am sure it would blow everyone away and be ten times better than some of the male influenced works within.
The question that really stuck out to me was the one about the criticisms they received for being whiny and complaining too much. Kathe Kollwitz had a great response about how you have to complain to make change and it’s even better to complain in a creative way. I think people are so afraid of causing a disruption that they suffer with what they have in the present, even though it could be better. I think art is a great way to complain about societal problems and issues in specific industries. It captures the attention of people and provides commentary that can change the way people think. Additionally, Frida Kahlo brought up how women and people of color are seen in a negative way when they have a problem, but white men are seen as critics. I’m glad the guerrilla girls are fighting these issues, although it’s disheartening that they’ve had to fight since the 80’s.
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