Art embodies the spirit of humanity: bold, brash, and contentious. Pacification has never stimulated the mind quite as much as raw, jagged emotion has—and it is controversial art that stirs true will and determination, grinding the will to placate into scattered remnants. The Guerilla Girls are a prime example of this concept, embodying the vitality of dispute amongst artists; they portray tendentious messages through their art pieces, ‘Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?’ and Guerilla Girls’ 1986 Report Card, condemning sexist galleries for their acts of discrimination.
It is a vital part of human nature to oppose, for fruitless agreement is bound to drive the societal man insane. This is reflected in art; pieces deemed truly human often spark outcry from the public, as it is emotion that drives the eyes of artists. There is little worth in art that aims to appease, for it is a simple repetition of all that precedes it. Controversy stirs in the stilled heart of paintings, and the finest of art is perhaps the most outlandish; as stated by the National Art Education Association, “Free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture” and to suppress any form of art, offensive as it may be, is directly contradictory of the rights of man. It is the strife and passion of common artists that form the spokes of the ever-spinning wheel that is artistry. To tear the entitlement of expression from the grasps of all those who desire it is candidly cruel, and in violation of all principles of civilization; without moral conflict, man is little more than an ill-constructed concept.
It is this proposed oppression of individuality that incited the Guerilla Girls’ revolution; the continuous denial of skilled female and colored artists in 1985 within one of the nation’s most prominent cities - Manhattan - would not be tolerated by the women, and scandalous, callous posters were created to shed light upon the injustice. They retaliated with all the spite and crassness that they were so often described with; to bear such a reputation and not take advantage of it would be a terrible sorrow. They were, despite their vulgarity, absolutely correct; they never attempted to prove a point if they could not defend its validity with certifiable sources (MOMA).
One of their most revered posters, displayed on buses rather than billboards after complaints of ‘distasteful visuals,’ featured a replica of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’ painting Grand Odalisque. The nude woman in the picture donned a gorilla mask, similar to those worn by the Guerilla Girls, and spouted the following message: ‘Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?’ The poster was widely despised by those who aligned with the gallery, but it has recently been adopted by the MET as a symbol of progression. At the time, the Guerilla Girls would compare the ratio of female nudes to female artists displayed within the Metropolitan Museum of the Arts, finding that nearly every nude depicted was female, while only about five percent of the art displayed in the museum was composed by female artists (a statistic analyzed and formed from information the girls themselves gathered). Their research was met with disdain at first - but it rapidly gained momentum, pressuring large galleries to make amends and acknowledge female artists. The influence of the Guerilla Girls, while not widely recognized, is still prevalent and necessary for the advancement of society - and it is entirely due to the controversial nature of their art.
The aforementioned poster was one of many in a collection of thirty; various billboards, signs, and critiques were plastered throughout huge artistic landmarks. Many of these images were overshadowed by more aggressive demonstrations of discrimination - including Guerilla Girls’ 1986 Report Card (TATE). Formatted and displayed much like a pompous, disappointed teacher might in reference to a rather unsatisfactory student, it highlights the severe lack of advancement in terms of inclusivity amongst the art community; it only notes five, fairly insignificant improvements from minor galleries (The New York Times).
The popularity of those five galleries rapidly spiked; they gained a reputable stance within the art community as other museums fell to their knees, desperately trying to regain respect from the public. Female visual artists were in high demand; Yayoi Kasuma, Judy Chicago, and Kara Walker all credit “much of their extensive success” to the Guerilla Girls, as the amount of commissions the artists collectively received succeeding the release of Guerilla Girls’ 1986 Report Card quadrupled (TATE). It is controversy that spurred their careers and it is controversy that drives them still; ironically, the will to fight fuels the peace they wish to convey through their art.
Disputes do not equate to dissension; the former is vital to the development of humanity, and the latter is the mangled, disfigured result of what controversy attempts to resolve. There is rarely one left unaccompanied by the other, as portrayed by the Guerilla Girls—their humor, wit, and controversy have woven together to form an influential collection of artwork that has been, and currently is, indispensable to the art community. They have caused the art community to flourish in its entirety, peace blossoming in the remnants of their turmoil; hundreds of prominent artists have thrived due to two of the Guerilla Girls’ major art pieces: Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum? and Guerilla Girls’ 1986 Report Card. It is debate that filters through raw, unadulterated rage and sifts out conclusive results, and without controversy, art is little more than finely woven threads of assimilationism clasped in the iron grip of the undeserving.
Chaitanya Govind
Guest Contributor to Project Invisible String
July 9, 2024
Works Cited
"Guerrilla Girls." TATE. 28 July 2020, www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/guerrilla-girls-6858. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
“Guerrilla Girls: Artist Profile.” National Museum of Women in the Arts, 29 May 2020, nmwa.org/art/artists/guerrilla-girls/.
“Guerrilla Girls: Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum?” The Metropolitan Museum of the Arts. 1 Jan. 2019, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/849438.
Guerrilla Girls – 'You Have to Question What You See.' TATE, 2019. YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uKg7hb2yoo. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
Ryzik, Melena. “The Guerrilla Girls, after 3 Decades, Still Rattling Art World Cages.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Aug. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/arts/design/the-guerrilla-girls-after-3-decades-still-rattling-art-world-cages.html.
.
Chai u ate this up ngl