Guerrilla Girls: Is it even worse in Europe?

The Guerrilla Girls new commission for the Whitechapel Gallery revisits their 1986 poster stating “It’s Even Worse in Europe”.

Characteristically deploying their strategic combination of humour, information, bold graphics and a subversive use of public space, their latest campaign includes a banner installed on the front of the Gallery and a display of posters and new research.

“Guerrilla Girls: Is it even worse in Europe?” explores diversity in European art organisations. It presents responses to questionnaires sent to 383 directors about their exhibitions programme and collections. The questions were formulated to critically look at the narratives that are produced by cultural institutions.

The Guerrilla Girls, a group of anonymous, feminist activists was founded in 1985. Each member takes the name of a woman artist from the past as a pseudonym and in public their identities are hidden under gorilla masks. Using facts, humour and fake fur, they produce posters, banners, stickers, billboards, projections and other public projects that expose sexism, racism and corruption in art, film, politics and culture at large.

Coinciding with this new commission and exhibition, the Guerrilla Girls will also lead a week-long major public project at Tate Modern (4 – 9 October 2016), as part of Tate Exchange.