Feminist Art Activists 'The Guerrilla Girls' visit Wellesley College Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Nov 14 2013

Location: 

Boston MA

They call themselves feminist masked avengers in the tradition of Robin Hood, Wonder Woman and Batman. They wear costume gorilla masks to remain anonymous, and they are devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the visual art world internationally. With the witty motto, “Fighting discrimination with facts, humor, and fake fur,” the Guerrilla Girls “reveal the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair" as they reinvent "the 'F' word - Feminism."

And they are coming to the Davis Museum for a special lecture at Jewett Auditorium on Thursday, November 14 at 5:30pm; and a gallery talk at the museum on Friday, November 15 at 1:30pm. The lecture will feature a performance by the Guerrilla Girls and will be followed by a talkback session led by the artist and activist, Lorraine O’Grady (Wellesley Class of ’55). During the gallery talk, the Guerrilla Girls will discuss the conception and creation of some of their most famous posters and projects that are part of the Davis Museum Collection. Sponsored by the Davis Museum Student Advisory Committee (DMSAC), both events are free and open to the public.

Lecture: Thursday, November 14 at 5:30pm, Jewett Auditorium Gallery Talk: Friday, November 15 at 1:30pm, Davis Museum

The Guerilla GIrls were formed in 1985 in response to an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art that almost exclusively highlighted male artists. Using facts, humor and outrageous visuals, the group exposes what they deem to be discrimination and corruption in politics, art, film and pop culture

In the last several years, the Guerrilla Girls have appeared at over 90 universities and museums, as well as in numerous publications, on TV, and have been alluded to in many art and feminist texts. Most recently, they have been the focus of an exhibition at the Bilbao Museum in Portugal. They are part of Amnesty International's Stop Violence Against Women Campaign in the UK; they've brainstormed with Greenpeace, and even created a large-scale installation for the Venice Biennale and street projects for Krakow, Istanbul, Mexico City and Montreal. They are not afraid of the "big boys;" they even dissed The Museum of Modern Art at its own Feminist Futures Symposium.

Events made possible through the generous support of the Davis Museum, The Committee for Lectures and Cultural Events and the Eleanor Edwards Fund, The Susan and Donald Newhouse Center for the Humanities, Art Dept, Cinema & Media Studies, Psychology Dept, Philosophy Dept, American Studies, Peace & Justice Studies, Women's & Gender Studies Dept, Alpha Phi Sigma Lecture Society, Tau Zeta Epsilon Society, Ethos, & the SHE’s.

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