The Guerilla Girls

“The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.”
— Stanley Milgram

 

In 1985, The Museum of Modern Art in New York City featured an exhibition called “An International Survey of Painting and Sculpture.” Its curator, Kynaston McShine, claimed that the works chosen represented only the most significant contemporary artists in the world. Suspiciously, only 13 of the 169 artists represented were women, and nearly all the artists were white Europeans or Americans. Adding insult to injury, McShine stated that any artist who wasn't in the show should rethink “his” career.

 

 

Activists demonstrated in front of MoMA, to little effect. Dissatisfied with the protests, a handful of female artists, writers, performers and filmmakers decided to find out just how deep the discrimination reached. After making a few inquiries, they realized the situation was dire. Preliminary research revealed that all of the most influential galleries and museums around the world exhibited almost no female artists.

 

When confronted with these figures, local artists, critics, curators, and gallery owners “passed the buck,” preferring to point accusatory fingers at one another, rather than claim personal responsibility. Some insisted the imbalance merely reflected quality, not sexism. Others agreed that there was prejudice, but felt helpless to change anything.

Proclaiming themselves the “conscience of culture,” and “feminist counterparts to the mostly male tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Batman, and the Lone Ranger,” a band of gorilla-masked vigilantes took to the Soho streets, putting up bold posters that bore the names of NYC's most prestigious galleries and curators alongside embarrassing statistics regarding the placement of female artists. The response was huge.

 

By remaining masked and answering only to the pseudonyms of dead female artists (i.e., Frieda Kahlo, Georgia O'Keefe, Alice Neel), the Guerilla Girls turn the focus of the public's interest on issues rather than personalities. “We use humor to convey information, provoke discussion, and show that feminists can be funny.”

 

Fifteen years after their first act of vigilante justice, the Guerilla Girls continue to combat racism and sexism with dark, unabashed glee.