ACADEMIC WRITING

As a woman, growing up with female representation has been essential for me to connect with my identity and express myself. Creating art remains a way for me to express myself, and seeing female artists and artwork growing up has always inspired me. Now as an adult woman, I recognise the privilege that seeing artwork made by women within galleries is. The Guerrilla Girls are a group of anonymous feminist female artists who are dedicated to fighting racial and gender inequalities within the art industry. I pose the question, how influential have the Guerrilla Girls been for gender equality within the art industry?

As the contemporary art movement of the 20th century was developing, many distinguished and popular galleries lacked publicating art by female artists, as these galleries were privately owned by male elites with male board directors. This corresponds to the disparities between male and female curators, where in the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition ‘An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture’ [1984], out of 165 artists, only 13 were women.

This initiated the Guerrilla Girls, who formed in New York City in 1985 as a response to the MoMa’s exhibition. Members wear gorilla masks and use pseudonyms that pay homage to deceased female artists to secrete their identity. They considered themselves the “conscience of the art world,” and began implementing serious messages through culture jamming in punchy, and often humorous posters, public appearances, billboards, and books. They target museums, galleries, artists, dealers, and critics that they conceive are actively responsible for excluding women from mainstream exhibitions.

Their 1986 piece “Dearest Art Collector,” [Figure 1] was the first Guerrilla Girls artwork I had seen. The punchy, bold, black font against the girly and feminine baby pink background, works as a visual juxtaposition while the message highlights the sexism and misogyny within the art world. The font acts as a feminine tease to the art collector reading the piece, with the curling and courteous letters paradoxing the urgency behind their message. These contrasts emphasise the Guerrilla Girls’ essence of humour, while the embedded message of sexism and urge for social change is prevalent. 

I saw this piece at the Tate Modern, which I think is highly ironic as many of the galleries that they critique commission them to create art for them. Other galleries they have exhibited at are MoMa, Venice Biennale, and Centre Pompidou, which is simultaneously ironic while clever, as they expand their audience and influence. 

Critic Richard Bledsoe in his 2020 article, ‘Feminist Art Activists the Guerrilla Girls Will Tell You What Kind of Art You Are Allowed to Enjoy,’ criticises the activists for their intentions; “they claim discrimination has prevented women from being recognized as artists-although they borrow the names of celebrated female artists for their pseudonyms.” Bledsoe’s critique is an attempt to belittle the Guerrilla Girls’s approach, which highlights the sexism and misogyny they combat and discuss. He ignores their points, where such pseudonyms honour these female artists, and ensure their own messages aren't discredited by those, like Bledsoe, who dislike their artwork. I think that Bledsoe’s attempt to cast the activists as bigots, only reveals his own bigotry. It is clear to understand that the Guerrilla Girls are fighting for the lack of female artist representation within the art world, not claiming that there aren't any successful or influential female artists, like the dogmatic Bledsoe implies. On the contrary, there are many successful female artists, they just aren’t given the same opportunities as men to display their art and form influence. 

Statistically, there has been a slight increase of female artists displaying their art within galleries since the beginning of the Guerrilla Girls’ activism. As previously mentioned, in 1984 the MoMa displayed 13 female artist's work out of 165. In 2006, this increased to 11 women within 137 artists. The Venice Biennale gallery featured 26-46% female curators between 2011-2017. Sexism and misogyny is not just prevalent within the art world. It is discussed more candidly within the music industry with songs like ‘Man’s World’ by Marina, and ‘The Man’ by Taylor Swift, which expose the real truths of sexism, much like the Guerrilla Girls.

It is evident that the Guerrilla Girls are active pioneers for change, and I believe that they have helped enforce change for women artists within the art industry. However, there must be more change before females are recognised as equals to men. Women must be given the same opportunities as their counterparts, as equality is only achievable once equity is reached.