In the 21st century, why do Guerrilla Girls still need to exist? Why are feminist activists in the art world still so important?
In this article we’ll look at the Guerrilla Girls – a group of anonymous feminist activists who emerged in 1985 with the aim of fighting discrimination and sexism in the art world through actions of “disturbing headlines, outrageous images and shattering statistics to expose gender and ethnic prejudice and corruption in art, film, politics and pop culture.”
Author: Rute Ferreira
Who are the Guerrilla Girls?
Since 1985, the Guerrilla Girls, a collective made up of feminist artists and activists, has been fighting sexism, racism and other forms of oppression in the art world.
Formed in New York, the artistic and feminist collective works through rapid actions based on guerrilla tactics – hence the name – and ephemeral art forms such as performance, video projections and installations.
How the Guerrilla Girls operate
Over more than three decades of activity, around 60 people have been part of the group. The members wear gorilla masks to maintain their anonymity – which keeps the focus not on the individual, but on the issues they address.
In addition, the Guerrilla Girls use humor and irony to problematize prejudice, discrimination, corruption and other social problems.
“We can be anyone. We are everywhere.”
The work of the collective of these feminist activists is based on Culture Jamming.
Culture Jamming - a term used for actions in which mainstream culture and unbridled consumerism are challenged through activism and street art. They use posters and billboards, for example, and get their message across quickly and clearly - and usually ironically.
The actions of the Guerrilla Girls
Do women have to be naked to get into the Met Museum?
Many of the Guerrilla Girls’ works criticize the way museums have treated women, particularly those who are artists. In 2015, they made a projection on the façade of the Whitney in NY about income inequality in the art world.
Drawing the attention of museums with data, the Guerrilla Girls point out, for example, the fact that many museums have a tiny number of works by women compared to the number of artistic nudes on display.
The advantages of being a woman artist
Another work that addresses these inequalities is “The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist”. With a dose of sarcasm, they point out the fundamental differences – and the far greater number of challenges – that a woman has to deal with in order to be an artist.
The Guerrilla Girls and Museums
The group of feminist activists emerged at a time when museums were reinventing themselves.
In the 1970s, events took place, such as the Santiago Round Table in Chile, and meetings that brought up issues such as the need for the museum to have a dialog with the community, and to be a space conducive to debate and open to social demands. From then on, the social role of the museum was discussed.
Other meetings and events were added to this milestone. In the 1980s, experiences such as ecomuseums, territory museums and other unconventional types of museum were already subverting traditional structures.
In 1984, the Quebec Declaration set out the basic principles of a new museology. You can download it from the link below
There was also a movement for museums, especially art and history museums, to be more open and willing to act on behalf of society.
Later, the Third Feminist Wave, in the 1990 s, broadened the debate around gender, as well as race and class issues. Researcher and art historian Susie Hodgie states that:
Feminist artists questioned the place of the female nude in art and the inequality that permeated art and society. Through female perspectives, they encouraged the viewer to question cultural injustices, in the hope of bringing about change, combating inequality and giving women more visibility.
Inequality in art
Drawing the attention of museums, collectors, the general public and even other artists to inequality in art is a goal of the feminist activist collective. As early as the 1980s, when the first works such as “Women need to be naked…” were published, they pointed out that only 4 commercial galleries in NY exhibited black women, and of those, only one exhibited more than one artist.
Do we still need to talk about this?
It’s clear that now, after almost forty years of the collective’s work, as well as a series of significant rights victories, art curators, artistic directors and others responsible for exhibitions are looking for a better balance between the work of men and women.
The Guerrilla Girls themselves now have their protest works represented in major museums.
So is their work – and that of all feminist activists – over? Not really.
Few women still occupy museums as artists. For example, there are few academic works dealing with the work of women from before the 20th century.
And at a time when science and research, culture and art are being so rejected, combating sexism and racism in art is as necessary as it was in the 80 s.
Guerrilla Girls today
The movement of feminist activists – Guerrilla Girls – in the art world is still necessary and still active.
The Guerrilla Girls continue their role of denunciation and protest, as you can see on the Tate Modern page dedicated to them.
You may be interested
How have women been viewed throughout history?
The aim of the History of Women / Gender online course is to analyze the figure of women throughout world history, from prehistory to the modern age.
In this way, it is possible to analyze the situation of women, the concept and evolution in the different historical phases.
