MCAC is thrilled to present four new works by the internationally known feminist arts group the Guerrilla Girls. With this exhibition, MCAC launches an all-Ireland Guerrilla Girl Tour of the new work, which will go on to Cork and Dublin.
The project is a collaboration with MCAC; the Glucksman Gallery, Cork; the University of Ulster, Belfast; the National College of Art & Design, Dublin and UCD.
In April 2009 the Guerrilla Girls presented ‘gigs’ throughout Ireland as part of the research project that informed this newly commissioned work. The project aimed to create a lens through which power and powerlessness were identified, gender examined and issues about women in contemporary Irish society could be discussed.
MCAC Director and exhibition curator Megan Johnston explains that the “project is historic and significant in relation to the museum and galleries of Ireland-both North and South. These important artists have something very important to reveal to us in the visual arts sector, as they comment on the status not only of artists who are female but also on gender, race, nationality and religion in contemporary society. To participate in the Guerrilla Girls project will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see art history in the making”.
The exhibition forms part of a wider programme of discussions and workshops around female representation in the arts and activism in general.
29th September – 7.00pm Panel Discussion at the University College, Dublin
Lecture Theatre M, Belfield, Dublin 4. Panelists Include: The Guerrilla Girls, the Director of the National Women’s Council and journalist Susan McKay, Head of Cultural Policy and Arts Management at UCD, Pat Cooke and Catherine Marshall, Head of Collections at IMMA. Discussion is open to students and members of the public.
1 October – 7.30-9pm: Opening night of Exhibition of New Work, Millennium Court Arts Centre
2 October – Activist workshop – University of Ulster, Belfast
The Guerrilla Girls will conduct a workshop where they will assist participants to produce their own activism projects on issues that are important to them. Open to students and members of the public.
Formed in 1985, the Guerrilla Girls explore such taboo subjects as feminism and fashion, attempting to achieve equality of the sexes and “races” in art, politics, film, and popular culture, and so calling themselves the ‘Conscience of the Art World’. They wear gorilla masks in public, to conceal their identities, and place the focus on issues rather than personalities, and work collectively and anonymously, to produce posters, films, billboards, public actions, books and other projects.
The Guerrilla Girls exhibition and tour highlights MCAC’s commitment to the delivery of a critically acclaimed artistic programme with the aim of creating a vibrant and unique context in which to cultivate and enhance the cultural environment of the community.
