In 1985, the Museum of Modern Art mounted an extensive exhibition called “An International Survey of Painting and Sculpture”, which promised to showcase the best and most important contemporary art in the world. The show featured over 150 male performers, less than 20 female performers and very, very few performers of color, sparking immediate outrage. Artists stood in picket lines outside the museum in protest, and of these protests, the guerrilla girls were born.
The cohort of female artists who dress up in gorilla costumes have remained anonymous, adopting pseudonyms of famous historical female artists like Käthe Kollowitz and Frida Kahlo, and have since worked to draw attention to inequalities within the art world. Exclusively new interview with Art21 as part of the new season of the flagship show Art in the 21st centurythe band members weigh in on their decades-long battle for representation.
“From the very beginning, we have fought against sexism, racism and the deadly grip that rich people and rich institutions have on art and culture,” Frida said. explain. “We were brought up to somehow respect all the institutions and the people who made the decisions and the people who wrote the history of art, but we found it to be filled with its own biases and limitations.
Production from the Season 11 episode of “Art in the 21st Century”, “Body of Knowledge”, 2023. © Art21, Inc. 2023.
In 1989, the group drafted a “Museum Code of Ethics” which they said should be installed in every institution, including concise and tongue-in-cheek statements like, “You shall show and collect many works of art by women and artists of color BEFORE they die or die!” »
Years later, in 2022, the artists decided to update the code to include more contemporary questions like “You will honor all your employees, you will never undermine their efforts to unionize and you will pay them a living wage. You will banish board members who make the world worse.” Activists engage with museum visitors, sparking conversations about what the role of museums should be.
“The power of the Guerrilla Girls’ work was that every time I looked at their material, I felt involved,” said one visitor. “It wasn’t someone else’s problem, it was my problem.”
Watch the video, which originally appeared in the frame from the Art21 series Art in the 21st century, below.
This is an episode of “Art on Video”, a collaboration between Artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips from artists who are making the news. A new season of the flagship series of the Art21 association Art in the 21st century is now available on PBS. Watch all episodes of other series, like New York close up And Extended gameand learn about the organization’s educational programs at Art21.org.
Follow Artnet News on Facebook:
Want to stay one step ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news, revealing interviews and incisive reviews that move the conversation forward.
