The Guerilla Girls are a group of feminist artists that aim to expose the inequalities and sexism that have manifested themselves in the art world. Their identities remain anonymous, as most of them use the names of dead female artists as aliases, in order to maintain privacy in the face of their protest.

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Their impetus came from a show put on by Kynaston McShine (Guerrilla Girls, 1995) that featured 169 artists, only 13 female and all racialised as white from either Europe or the US. They found a sincere prejudice in this representation, especially considering McShine specifically stated that those who were not included should rethink their careers. Their solution to this was to research various museums and inquire about their female representation. They found that almost no women were featured in extremely influential museums and galleries. They began putting up large posters exposing these various galleries and museums in New York’s SoHo, “examining different aspects of sexism and racism in our culture at large” (Guerrilla Girls, 1995). They have ultimately reached great success and are asked to speak at museums, schools, and, even, institutions that they have attacked. Additionally, their message has been put on various other mediums, such as magazine spreads and bus ads, and they engage in protests and letter writing campaigns. They also often send fake awards to egregious artists and critics that have acted in a racist or sexist manner. They get their information by simply counting in galleries and reading the upcoming line-ups of galleries for the year. Many argue that the reason why women and artists of colour are not featured is due to quality of work. However, the Guerrilla Girls refute this by saying that the High Art world is run by a small group of people who have time and time again shown their bias against women and people of colour. They argue that “‘quality’ has always been used to keep women and artists of colour out” (Guerrilla Girls, 1995). Ultimately, they believe that this is a civil rights issue and that the art world should be “subject to the same standards as anywhere else” (Guerrilla Girls, 1995). 

 

The Guerrilla Girls also take issue with the language used in the art world. The words ‘masterpiece,’ ‘seminal,’ and ‘genius’ all have gendered roots touting masculinity and, therefore, disregard female artists (Guerrilla Girls, 1995). The term ‘masterpiece’ specifically relates to the arguments posed by Frantz Fanon, in understanding the museum as being part of the colonial world. The word ‘master’ within ‘masterpiece’ denotes a sense of male ownership over the work and overall positions of authority (Guerrilla Girls, 1995). In sum, these ardent advocates feel as though they are able to to make progress in the art world and influence the views of other critics, as well as hold museums and galleries accountable for their representation.

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Source: Girls, G. (1995). Confessions of the Guerrilla Girls. New York: Harper Perennial, pp. 5-95.