Guerrilla Girls
The Guerrilla Girls are feminist masked avengers in the tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Wonder Woman and Batman. Over 55 women have been members over the years, some for months, some for decades. They use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose discrimination and corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture. They undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair. They’ve unveiled anti-film industry billboards in Hollywood just in time for the Oscars, dissed the Museum of Modern Art, New York, at its own Feminist Futures Symposium, and created large scale projects for the Venice Biennale; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Istanbul; Mexico City; London; Athens; Rotterdam; Bilbao; Sarajevo; Shanghai; Ireland; Krakow and Montreal. They are authors of stickers, billboards, posters, street projects, and several books including The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art; Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls' Guide to Female Stereotypes; The Guerrilla Girls' Art Museum Activity Book; and The Guerrilla Girls' Hysterical Herstory of Hysteria and How it Was Cured, from Ancient times Until Now. Their work is passed around by their tireless supporters. They travel the world doing performances and workshops, encouraging thousands of people to invent their own crazy kind of activism, too. Just in the few years, they have been in the UK, France, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, Ireland, and Canada, as well as all over the United States. Recently, they launched a new edition of The Guerrilla Girls' Art Museum Activity Book, a parody of the publications museums create to teach children to appreciate art (only theirs teaches everyone to criticize museums.) Recent talks/performances and exhibitions include Yoko Ono’s Meltdown Festival, London; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; and the Gothenburg Biennial. A retrospective of their work, Guerrilla Girls 1985-2013, is at Alhóndiga Bilbao, Spain until 6 January, 2014. It contains over 200 works, plus street photos, correspondence and ephemera.
Image courtesy of the artists.
Cohosted with
Area 405
Located in a 160 year-old artist-owned warehouse within Baltimore's Station North Arts and Entertainment District, AREA 405 is committed to showcasing and strengthening the vitality of the arts community within Baltimore. The primitive and urban character of our 66,000 square feet warehouse at 405 East Oliver Street provides a particular and alternative setting for exhibitions as well as studio space for the 30+ artists who work here (Oliver Street Studios). Our building's long history as a brewery, industrial equipment maker and as a window blind manufacturer challenges and inspires both exhibitors and performers in a way that traditional, neutral white-wall spaces cannot. AREA 405's mission is to produce, present and promote arts and cultural programming by offering a venue for artists from Baltimore and beyond. Collaborating with art, cultural and community organizations throughout the region, AREA 405 has hosted scores of events featuring thousands of artists since opening its doors in 2003. Area 405 is run primarily by volunteers, supports not only the visual arts, but also dance, theatre, film and more. Area 405 is located at 405 E. Oliver Street and is open for events and by appointment.