The value of Guerrilla Girls’ practice transcends objecthood or performance. Roberta Smith criticizes feminist exhibitions: "Feminism is not a style, or a formal approach. It is a philosophy, an attitude, and a political instrument. It is more important than Pop, Minimalism or Conceptual art because it is by its very nature bigger than they are, more far-reaching and life affecting. In addition, feminism is not of itself an aesthetic value. It is an idea that can assume an organic force in some artist’s work, but others just pay it lip service without much exertion or passion.”1 The Guerrilla Girls’ paid every act of ‘lipservice’ with ample exertion, passion, and intimidating wit. Like any marginalized people, their anger is a shield used to preserve dignity. However, the Guerrilla Girls’ approach is equally dependent on an ancillary instrument: humor. Humor encrypts their message, ensuring that communication is not unilateral. They demand viewer participation and contemplation. Satire is the indirect dispatch that creates powerful micro-implosions within the edifice of systemic discrimination.

In contrast to most gallery exhibitions where ideas and objects are unpacked for conceptual insight, this exhibition is an act of resistance, unity, and hope. Installation will take place beyond the ‘white cube’ of the gallery, subverting traditional art display methods. This show directs our attention to the bifurcation of gender, the most innate of all divisions between humans and the source of, arguably, the deepest form of discrimination. What has the world missed out on due to exclusionist practices? In the arena of contemporary art, where dialogues about the conditions of our society are first introduced, why are female artists, curators, practitioners still subject to antiquated stereotypes and chauvinism? The #MeToo moment revealed how the seemingly evolved art community was neither immune to nor above barbarism. How can we teach incoming generations gender equality when women are eroticized and depicted in the nude, over and over again, in the world’s best museums, our temples of culture? The way things are today is because of the way things were.

The practice of the Guerrilla Girls moves through art into politics. Bold headlines in their posters level sardonic accusations against collectors, gallerists, curators, museums, and other cultural producers. Even if their message is delivered with flippant belligerence, the message and the messengers are not wrong. They provide clear and convincing evidence, and in this way, their work functions as a moral fait accompli once experienced. Who is willing and able to remedy their appeal for equality?

“When I'm sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that.”
― Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Women comprise more than half the world population. Ginsburg’s answer validates the continual relevance of the Guerrilla Girls’ practice. CYDONIA thanks the Guerrilla Girls for their service, ad infinitum.

Statement from the Guerrilla Girls:
The Guerrilla Girls are feminist activist artists. Over 55 people have been members over the years, some for weeks, some for decades. Our anonymity keeps the focus on the issues, and away from who we might be. We wear gorilla masks in public and use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture. We undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair. We believe in an intersectional feminism that fights discrimination and supports human rights for all people and all genders. We have done over 100 street projects, posters and stickers all over the world, including New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Mexico City, Istanbul, London, Bilbao, Rotterdam, and Shanghai, to name just a few. We also do projects and exhibitions at museums, attacking them for their bad behavior and discriminatory practices right on their own walls, including our 2015 stealth projection about income inequality and the super rich hijacking art on the façade of the Whitney Museum in New York. Our retrospectives in Bilbao and Madrid, Guerrilla Girls 1985-2015, and our US traveling exhibition, Guerrilla Girls: Not Ready To Make Nice, have attracted thousands. We could be anyone. We are everywhere. What’s next? More creative complaining!! New projects in London, Paris, Cologne, and more!

1 Smith, Roberta. (27 March 2007). These are Women, Hear them Roar. The New York Times. Available: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/arts/design/23glob.html