Founding Guerrilla Girl, “Frida Kahlo”

“Do women have to be naked to get into a museum?”, asks Guerrilla Girl Frida Kahlo.

Tuesday night at Sursa Hall on the Ball State campus, we had a gorilla in our midst! Well, sorta. The museum, art department, and several other organizations on campus hosted a founding memeber of the Guerrilla Girl, “Frida Kahlo”. The Guerrilla Girls are a feminist activist group that criticizes art, culture, and politics. The Girls wear gorilla masks (Frida’s was adorned with pink lipstick!) to conceal their identity. They’re more concerned about being heard than gaining personal fame. One of their main goals is to make known the discrimination of female artists in museums and the art market. They accomplish that goal by giving these talks, publishing books, slapping confrontational stickers in public places, and challenging museums around the world to present more female artist and less female nudes.

Frida talked about gender and race inequality and that it is an issue in all career fields, not just art. She even encourages everyone to create their own masked avenger group to help show the discrimination in the different work fields (just don’t pick gorilla masks, that’s already been done!).

Her talk was entertaining, fun, and insightful. If a guerrilla girl is ever in your midst, be sure to talk to her! Also, be sure to visit their website and Facebook page!

sad facts about many art museusm

The Guerrilla Girls speak up about racial and gender discrimination in the film industry, too.

When asked by singer Pharrell Williams to create a poster for his all women artists exhibition, the GGs revamped one of their classic posters to make a biting statement about women in music videos.

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