Looking past the gender in art issue, the approach is really interesting - they note in the article that early on members of the collective went to a protest and noted how ineffectual it seemed, and so they leaned into a style much closer to modern advertising. Take a look at the imagery and iconography of their work in the articles in the picture - there’s really a packaged look. I don’t know how impactful they were (although getting a write up 40 years later suggests they made a mark on someone, at least), but in an era where it sure doesn’t feel like protesting’s gotten any more effective, it’s an interesting read.
akimbostrawman · 1d ago
But I thought the establishment was all for women's body being there choice, showing it off and making money off it is the pinnacle of female pride and accomplishment?
xtiansimon · 1d ago
?? Showing it off…what?
How did you get that from this: “The Guerrilla Girls brought public attention to the inequalities and systematic discrimination in the art world…”
This article is about a message delivered using the techniques of advertising. One of the elements of which is the female body.
essi_ · 1d ago
Can you believe it, it's like women want to be able to do everything!
akimbostrawman · 1d ago
Exactly! have there cake and eat it too
0dayz · 1d ago
In libertarian establishment yes.
rmason · 1d ago
I remember this well. Kind of disappointed that it didn't make all that much of a dent in the problem. I know several really talented female artists who have gone an unconventional path by selling their art on the web. Perhaps because the male art world didn't leave them any other choice?
badc0ffee · 1d ago
Here in Canada things changed about 10 years ago and now the majority of exhibitions at public galleries seem to be by female artists. Exhibitions of indigenous artists have increased massively as well.
Artist bios and statements often feature some language about how much harder it is for women to make it in art, and I think that can't possibly be true anymore, for younger artists.
politelemon · 1d ago
Perhaps in some specific progressive areas. The world is not uniform, so not every place holds the same values or even maintains the same values for that matter. Even among the younger population.
bruce511 · 1d ago
That's completely true, but also a simplification.
Firstly, it's important to understand that the art "industry" has a massive supply and demand problem - ie over supply and very little demand. This is in common with musicians, bands, authors etc.
On the one hand competing for very limited "shelf space" means that most artists never get into galleries etc.
The gallery owner is balancing multiple factors (cause they want to make a living selling art) and so public tastes etc come into play. They're also more likely to show "art their client base knows" to improve sales.
Museums have a somewhat different mandate, but often have more art than they can display. So they rotate works, create "themes" and so on. They need to keep their core market (repeat art museum visitors ??? ) coming back.
Of course pretty much all artists are "not represented" most of the time - that's fundamental to the supply demand problem.
Are pictures by old white men over-represented? Absolutely. Are they the ones who got opportunities 30 years ago, and have built both a body of work, and a fan-base of buyers? Equally yes. Are they the "safe choice" for dealers keeping the lights on? still yes.
Change will happen slowly. Buyers tastes change slower than artist creativity.
If you want to promote diversity in the art world, only one thing matters. Are you buying that art? Because if you're not buying, you're not sending a signal that matters. And (I say this as one who does buy art) a vanishingly small number of people buy any art at all.
aspenmayer · 1d ago
The reasoning here seems specious. My mother is an amateur artist who has presented her work at local art galleries and spaces as exhibitions and sold lithographs made from some of the pieces. She was welcomed by some and warned by others, mostly weird men who didn’t like her art, and others who said she wasn’t allowed to make that kind of art and attempted to take it down until my mother made clear she would not comply and would resist with force if necessary, after which they relented. It was quite bizarre. I’m reasonably certain that this would not have happened had she been a man. I think a lot of women in art and other fields experience sexism in the course of their careers from customers/clients and vendors. I don’t know if that is factored in to how hard you think it is to make it in art as a woman, but men are a reason more women aren’t making and showing art. I think it depends on the scene you’re in and who has the power.
atmavatar · 1d ago
> I’m reasonably certain that this would not have happened had she been a man.
Out of curiosity: what specifically leads you to make this claim? I don't necessarily doubt the claim, but your story up to this point could describe any budding artist trying to get recognized, as only a tiny of fraction of them do.
aspenmayer · 1d ago
It’s not a story. It’s my mom’s life. If she’d been a man, I wouldn’t be here telling you about it. My mom was not successful as an artist, she just liked making art. She wanted to go to art school but got pregnant and was pretty much asked/forced to drop out of high school a month before graduating.
The content of the art perhaps brought out the crazy people? Her art depicted her alien abduction experiences, and the guy she had to ward off intimated that he was some kind of g-man but who can say?
badc0ffee · 1d ago
All I have visibility into is the public galleries, where the grants and the curators are picking women, and the artist run centres, and the local art school, both of which are female and/or indigenous and/or queer first in the past decade.
You're right that things are different at private galleries. The majority of art in galleries representing artists decades into their career is not going to be by women. And the owners are going to have their say/taste, as are their clientele.
But, will that still be true in the coming decades? There is a pipeline to becoming an established artist, and what is the input to that, if not the art schools, collectives, and artist run centres? (I am not asking that rhetorically, I am genuinely curious)
How did you get that from this: “The Guerrilla Girls brought public attention to the inequalities and systematic discrimination in the art world…”
This article is about a message delivered using the techniques of advertising. One of the elements of which is the female body.
Artist bios and statements often feature some language about how much harder it is for women to make it in art, and I think that can't possibly be true anymore, for younger artists.
Firstly, it's important to understand that the art "industry" has a massive supply and demand problem - ie over supply and very little demand. This is in common with musicians, bands, authors etc.
On the one hand competing for very limited "shelf space" means that most artists never get into galleries etc.
The gallery owner is balancing multiple factors (cause they want to make a living selling art) and so public tastes etc come into play. They're also more likely to show "art their client base knows" to improve sales.
Museums have a somewhat different mandate, but often have more art than they can display. So they rotate works, create "themes" and so on. They need to keep their core market (repeat art museum visitors ??? ) coming back.
Of course pretty much all artists are "not represented" most of the time - that's fundamental to the supply demand problem.
Are pictures by old white men over-represented? Absolutely. Are they the ones who got opportunities 30 years ago, and have built both a body of work, and a fan-base of buyers? Equally yes. Are they the "safe choice" for dealers keeping the lights on? still yes.
Change will happen slowly. Buyers tastes change slower than artist creativity.
If you want to promote diversity in the art world, only one thing matters. Are you buying that art? Because if you're not buying, you're not sending a signal that matters. And (I say this as one who does buy art) a vanishingly small number of people buy any art at all.
Out of curiosity: what specifically leads you to make this claim? I don't necessarily doubt the claim, but your story up to this point could describe any budding artist trying to get recognized, as only a tiny of fraction of them do.
The content of the art perhaps brought out the crazy people? Her art depicted her alien abduction experiences, and the guy she had to ward off intimated that he was some kind of g-man but who can say?
You're right that things are different at private galleries. The majority of art in galleries representing artists decades into their career is not going to be by women. And the owners are going to have their say/taste, as are their clientele.
But, will that still be true in the coming decades? There is a pipeline to becoming an established artist, and what is the input to that, if not the art schools, collectives, and artist run centres? (I am not asking that rhetorically, I am genuinely curious)