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In this written series “Women Who Metamorphosed Art:” I want to deep dive into selected female artists who contributed to art history but are rarely renowned for doing so. As education and media often highlights the contributions of male artists and their works it’s time to educate ourselves on the equal importance of female artists as well. This week we continue onwards with the focus on the Guerrilla Girls - a collective of female artists whose work both acts as art and protests for other female artists.
The Guerilla Girls, 1996, Lois Greenfield via The New York Times
The Guerrilla Girls began to form in the 1980s when a group of women decided to take action against the Metropolitan Museum of New York for lack of representation of female artists. After their initial protests were unsuccessful, they decided to take on more ‘guerrilla’ style tactics to make sure their voices are heard, hence the name and why they now work anonymously through gorilla masks. Their main objectives as artists are to make pieces that raise awareness on issues of misogyny and gendered racism created by galleries and museums in an attempt to aid other female artists have their works featured in exhibitions across the world.
Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into Boston Museums?, 2012, Guerrilla Girls via Tate, London
As the Guerrilla Girls artworks are not considered conventional by art history standards they tend to be overlooked and thought of as political pieces rather than art. However, I think it is far more productive to view it as an interesting line where art transcends to an act of protest whilst still maintaining its credibility as an artwork, just like the highly acclaimed works of Banksy whose art functions in a similar fashion. Since the Guerrilla Girls began mid-80s they are therefore one of the first feminist groups to combat inequality in the art world, and by using their own art pieces to do so it created a new level of awareness and even a new sector of political art.
The first Guerrilla Girls artwork I was exposed to was ‘When Racism & Sexism are No Longer Fashionable, What Will Your Art Collection Be Worth?’ which puts into perspective exactly how biased the art world is. The poster describes how for one artwork bought at $17.7 million by Jasper Johns, one of the richest living artists, an artwork by each of the listed women could have been bought, including highly renowned artists such as Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keefe. The statistics alone put into perspective just how much of a gap there is between male and female artists, creating the visual image of the work of 1 male artist equivalent to the work of 67 female artists.
When Racism & Sexism are No Longer Fashionable, What Will Your Art Collection be Worth?, 1989, Guerrilla Girls via Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Furthermore, the power of these artworks is that it’s very clear what is being said, the numbers are there and the message is clear, meaning anyone, artistic or not, can understand the message immediately. Art is always described as a very ambiguous term and there is a general consensus that artworks are meant to be cryptic or up to interpretation, but the Guerrilla Girls provide a fresh framework to the meaning of art. It is often said you must fight fire with fire, so the Guerrilla Girls fighting the art world with art is inevitable and shows just how powerful of a protest it can create.
The reason I chose the Guerrilla Girls for this week was because of the recent political debates regarding the US presidency. So I think this week is very centred on speaking one’s truth and standing up for one’s beliefs and while words are powerful, a picture speaks for itself, just as the Guerrilla Girls show us.
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