Guerrilla Girls - Activity

Activity

Guerrilla Girls organize protests, present at public speaking engagements and have conducted surveys about women artists and those of color in museums and galleries internationally. Early organizing was based around meetings where the group would evaluate the statistical data they gathered regarding gender inequality within the New York City art world and plan their next moves. One example of data gathered by the group included a "weenie count," where members would go to institutions, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and count the male to female subject ratio in artworks. The data gathered from the Met's public collections in 1985 showed that only 5% of the subjects were women and 83% of the images of women displayed were nude. Data like this formed the basis for protests - verbally and visually. The group also kept report cards about organizations, galleries and critics featuring this data. The Guerrilla Girls also worked closely with artists, encouraging them to speak to those within the community to bridge the gender gap within the art world.

In 1992, with the Women’s Action Coalition (WAC), a protest was held at the Guggenheim Museum, involving the passing out of large paper bags with gorilla masks printed on them to protesters. A Gig Girl is assigned to handle public appearance requests, as well as funding and coordination of travel. The Guerrilla Girls have protested and/or spoken out about gender and race concerns regarding the Whitney Biennial as well as private collections and auctions.