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Feminist Masked Avengers: Guerrilla Girls, Guerrilla Girls BroadBand, Guerrilla Girls On Tour! at Rutgers

By Nicole Ianuzelli
Contact:
Institute for Women and Art, Rutgers University
191 College Avenue, 2nd Fl., New Brunswick, NJ 08901
732/932-3726 x 15; H[email protected]H
Feminist Masked Avengers: 30 Early Guerrilla Girls’ Posters
Donated by founding member Liubov Popova to the Miriam Schapiro Archives/Rutgers University Libraries
Recent Work by Guerrilla Girls, Guerrilla Girls BroadBand, Guerrilla Girls On Tour! 
June 1 – July 18, 2011
Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University
and  
Feminist Feteon June 5, 2011
Honoring Feminist Guerrillas: Guerrilla Girls, Guerrilla Girls BroadBand, Guerrilla Girls On Tour!
 
New Brunswick, NJ- The Rutgers Institute for Women and Art (IWA) is proud to present, Feminist Masked Avengers: 30 Early Guerrilla Girls’ Posters (donated by founding member Liubov Popova to the Miriam Schapiro Archives/Rutgers University Libraries) and Recent Work by Guerrilla Girls, Guerrilla Girls BroadBand & Guerrilla Girls On Tour! on view from June 1 – July 18, 2011. The exhibit will be mounted in the galleries at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts (33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901). Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 am – 3pm and weekends by appointment. The galleries are free and open to the public.
In 1985, a group of women artists founded the Guerrilla Girls. They assumed the names of dead women artists and wore gorilla masks in public, concealing their identities and focusing on the issues rather than their personalities. A bunch of in-your-face posters went up on the streets of New York and all hell broke loose. Over a hundred posters, actions, books and billboards followed about art history, politics, film, theatre, social issues, popular culture and corruption in the art world. Between 1985 and 2000, close to one hundred women, working collectively and anonymously, produced posters, billboards, public actions, books and other projects to make feminism funny and fashionable. At the turn of the millennium, three separate and independent incorporated groups formed to bring fake fur and feminism to new frontiers. Now 26 years later, this exhibition will feature work by all three groups and posters donated by founding member Liubov Popova to the Miriam Schapiro Archives on Women Artists/Rutgers University Libraries.
Guerrilla Girls, Inc., HUwww.guerrillagirls.comUH, was established by two founding Guerrilla Girls and other members to continue the use of provocative text, visuals and humor in the service of feminism and social change. They have written several books and create projects about the art world, film, politics and pop culture. They travel the world, talking about the issues and their experiences as feminist masked avengers, reinventing the “f” word into the 21st century.
Guerrilla Girls On Tour! Inc., HUwww.guerrillagirlsontour.comUH, is a touring theatre collective founded by three former members of the Guerrilla Girls.  Guerrilla Girls On Tour! develops plays, performances, street theatre actions and residency programs that dramatize women’s history and address the lack of opportunities for women and artists of color in the performing arts.
 
Guerrilla Girls BroadBand, Inc., HUwww.ggbb.orgUH, was formed by a founding Guerrilla Girl, four former members of the Guerrilla Girls and a bevy of young, next-generation feminists and artists of color.  “The Broads” combat sexism, racism and social injustice, exploring such taboo subjects as feminism and fashion and discrimination in the wired workplace through their website and live interactive activist events.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the IWA will host a Feminist Fete (an afternoon of art, performances, amuse-bouche and libation) on June 5, 2011 in the Mason Gross Galleries to honor Guerrilla Girls, Guerrilla Girls BroadBand, Guerrilla Girls On Tour! and to celebrate the IWA’s fifth anniversary. The Girls will perform during the afternoon. Tickets are available for purchase. We have named tickets tiers in honor of deceased NJ women artists: Charlotte Bonaparte Patron(ess) ($300 for 2 tickets), Sarah Vaughn Benefactor ($150 for 1 ticket), Lilly Martin Spencer Donor ($75 for 1 ticket- special price for artists), Alice Neel Contributor ($25 for 1 ticket- special price for students). Please visit our website at http://iwa.rutgers.edu or contact the IWA (732/932-3726 or [email protected]) to purchase tickets or for further information about this ‘not to miss’ event. The IWA is proud to present food prepared and served by the Community Food Bank of New Jersey’s Community Kitchen HUwww.njfoodbank.orgUHat the Fete.
In honor of the IWA’s fifth anniversary and the Girls, the IWA has published a poster by internationally acclaimed artist Joyce Kozloff titled, After Gerhard Richter. In his original work (which can be found as a limited edition offset print, Survey, 1998) Richter listed the most prominent intellectuals in world history, only a few of whom were women. Kozloff ‘s After Gerhard Richter replaces all the male names with women—naming those who have made significant contributions in the same fields, i.e., architects, artists, composers, philosophers, and writers. The posters will be sold for the first time at the Feminist Fete and then will be available through the IWA offices. For information about Joyce Kozloff visit: HUhttp://www.joycekozloff.net/
 
Rutgers Institute for Women and Art was founded in 2006 when Rutgers President appointed Judith K. Brodsky and Ferris Olin, founding directors. The vision of the Institute for Women and Art is to transform values, policies, and institutions, and to insure that the intellectual and aesthetic contributions of diverse communities of women in the visual arts are included in the cultural mainstream and acknowledged in the historical record. The mission of the Rutgers Institute for Women and Art is to invent, implement, and conduct live and virtual education, research, documentation, public programs, and exhibitions focused on women artists and feminist art. The IWA strives to establish equality and visibility for all women artists, who are underrepresented and unrecognized in art history, the art market, and the contemporary art world, and to address their professional development needs. The IWA endeavors to serve all women in the visual arts and diverse global, national, regional, state, and university audiences.
The IWA operates as a center of the Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic & Public Partnerships in the Arts & Humanities at Rutgers. This exhibition and event are made possible in part by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Margaret Bourke-White Patron(ess) co-sponsors of the Feminist Fete include: Arts Council of Princeton, Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions, Visual Arts Department/Mason Gross School of the Arts, and Woman’s Art Journal.
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