Long before the British graffiti artist and political activist Banksy chose to remain anonymous, there were the Guerrilla Girls. Formed in New York in 1985, they are a group of feminist, female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world, and their mission of bringing gender and racial inequality in the fine arts into focus still continues today. Each member takes the name of a woman artist from the past as a pseudonym, and they are known for the gorilla masks they wear to to conceal their identity because they believe that identity is not what matters “mainly, we wanted the focus to be on the issues, not on our personalities or our own work”.
The Guerrilla Girls are back in London’s East End at the Whitechapel Gallery with a new campaign/ exhibition ‘Is It Even Worse in Europe’ based on the art collective’s survey of nearly 400 museums in 29 countries in Europe, which suggests that most of the continent’s art institutions are doing a poor job of representing women artists and people of color.
Inside, the results are displayed loudly around one room. A list of the 101 institutions that responded adorns one wall, while another wall is covered with the completed questionnaires, overlaid with vivid posters highlighting the most interesting and controversial answers.
Inside, the results are displayed loudly around one room. A list of the 101 institutions that responded adorns one wall, while another wall is covered with the completed questionnaires, overlaid with vivid posters highlighting the most interesting and controversial answers.
If you fancy a little anarchy with your art, then Is It Even Worse In Europe runs until 5th March 2017 .
Details : http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/guerrilla-girls/
