News Summary

MIDDLETOWN — Imagine that a woman wanting to make a point appears in a gorilla mask and tosses out bananas to the audience. Can she be taken seriously?

Apparently, she can if she's with the Guerrilla Girls, a founding member who spoke before a crowd of about 200 students and residents at Miami University Middletown Thursday.

Extras

Photos

Guerilla Girls co-founder, 'Frida Kahlo' — named for the 20th century Mexican painter — speaks to an audience Thursday night at Miami University Middletown. According to the group's Web site, 'We're a bunch of anonymous females who take the names of dead women artists as pseudonyms and appear in public wearing gorilla masks. We have produced posters, stickers, books, printed projects, and actions that expose sexism and racism in politics, the art world, film and the culture at large. We use humor to convey information, provoke discussion, and show that feminists can be funny. We wear gorilla masks to focus on the issues rather than our personalities.'Click to enlarge

The Guerrilla Girls are a group of women who call themselves "anonymous art agitators." They appear in pubic in gorilla masks without revealing their real names, aiming to point out the under-representation of females and minorities in the art world.

The member who spoke Thursday called herself "Frida Kahlo," after the famous Mexican artist. The Guerrilla Girls formed about 20 years ago, putting up posters in New York that asked provocative questions such as "When racism and sexism are no longer fashionable, what will your art collection be worth?"

Kahlo explained that when the Guerrilla Girls started, their detractors called them "whining complainers," so the members began using humor to make their points.

A survey looking at works in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art led to a poster that said less than 5 percent of the artwork was by women, and yet 85 percent of nudes were of females. The poster asked, "Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?"

"Your laughter will disarm your oppressor," said Kahlo, explaining the group's methods.

The Guerrilla Girls also produced a billboard touting the "Anatomically Correct Oscar," decrying the fact that most Academy Award winners are white males. That billboard was on display in 2002, when Denzel Washington won the best actor Oscar for "Training Day" and Halle Berry won best actress for "Monster's Ball." The Guerrilla Girls' billboard had something to do with it, Kahlo said.

Courtney Curtner, the treasurer of student government at MUM, worked to bring the group because "they are extremely important to the art world, and it's important that people be exposed to the fact that there are more great artists besides white males like Picasso."

Asked if there were any male Guerrilla Girls, Kahlo said not yet, but that "the world needs more masked avenger groups than the Guerrilla Girls" and suggested such a group could be called "Baboon Boys."

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.