Friday, September 9, 2016

Guerrilla Girls On Tour at Form/Space Atelier Winter 2016-17



Exhibit Title: Guerrilla Girls On Tour 2016-17

Exhibit Duration: October 14, 2016 - February 8, 2017

Vernissage: October 14, 6PM
GUERRILLA GIRLS ON TOUR AT 
FORM/SPACE ATELIER IS SPONSORED BY POSTER GIANT !

Form/Space Atelier celebrates their second Guerrilla Girls exhibition (2013 being the first), and the 14th edition of a Feminist Eclat, an annual exhibit that has included art objects from the office of Gloria Steinem, a separate exhibition of the artwork of Joanna Salska, Steinem's portraitist and a paintings exhibit by feminist and former Playboy Playmate Juliette Frette.

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. Between 1985 and 2000, close to 100 women, working collectively and anonymously, produced posters, billboards, public actions, books and other projects to make feminism funny and fashionable. This exhibit was organized by Guerilla Girls On Tour, one of three entities affiliated with Guerilla Girls.

Guerrilla Girls On Tour, Inc., is a touring theatre collective founded by three former members of the Guerrilla Girls. GGOT develops original plays, performances and workshops, 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.

EXTRA!
Ashley Primer of University of Washington interview:

I'm a student at University of Washington Tacoma. I'm doing a project on the Guerrilla Girl's. Part of the project involves interviewing a living artist. Since the Guerrilla Girls work anonymously, my teacher recommended interviewing a third party about them. Since they are currently on exhibit at your gallery, I thought this might be a good place to start. Is there anyone who would be interested in doing a short interview about them with me, either by email or by phone? Any help is appreciated.
Best Wishes,

Ashley Primer

Ashley: What goes into planning an exhibit like this?

Paul: This is a very complex answer, so I will just give you 
some outline headings we iterate at Form/Space Atelier, by no means comprehensive:

Contractual plan, inventory, images, didactic 
composition, exhibition systems, shipping, lighting/power, 
press, archiving and sales structure, if applicable.

Ashley: Are special accommodations needed for working with anonymous artists?

Paul: Confidentiality is maintained equal to that of other 
professional pacts, lawyer-client or patient-qualified medical 
professional, for example.

Ashley: What made you want you want to work with the Guerrilla Girls?

Paul: I had heard of GG from the first actions in NYC in 1985, also 
viewed them interviewed early in their process.  It is exceedingly rare for
activist groups to survive, much less thrive as GG have, for these
many years.  I felt the GG message had never lost authenticity, on 
the contrary, conditions had really never significantly improved for 
women artists.  So GG still had validity in their message, though they had
been hammering away for decades.  I also saw an organic marriage
between GG and a 14-year long exhibition program in my gallery
Form/Space Atelier called "Feminist Eclat", an annual exhibit that has
included art objects from the office of Gloria Steinem, a separate
exhibition of the artwork of Joanna Salska, Steinem's portraitist, and
a paintings exhibit by feminist and former Playboy Playmate Juliette
Frette.  I also found working with GG rewarding from a professional
standpoint, the personnel are organized, prompt with communications,
easy to do business with.  Which is also rare, artists tend to be
unprofessional.  But not GG.

Ashley: What impact do you think activist art has on the overall industry?

Paul: There are two worlds of achievement within the art cosmos.  
Without considering other activist art groups, because I have no connection
with others, I think GG has achieved respectable critical success.
And for reasons that are obvious, GG represents a credible threat to
the commercial interests of the other art world.  As long as
capitalism exerts influence on the means of art production, collectors
have the power to shape the consumerist model of the commercial art
world.  And collectors are obeisant to the language of patriarchy.  GG
will, I believe, continue the cause until change occurs, and the art
worlds are equal for all.