This “cutesy” letter tackles a serious problem: the lack of art made by women in many private collections.
Guerrilla Girls, Dearest Art Collector, 1986, poster, Guerrilla Girls records, 1979–2003 (Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, 2008.M.14) © Guerrilla Girls, used with permission. Speakers: Dr. Zanna Gilbert, senior research specialist, Getty Research Institute and Dr. Beth Harris, Smarthistory
The Guerrilla Girls are an art collective formed in New York in 1985 to protest sexism and discrimination in the art world. Composed of anonymous members who went by pseudonyms and wore gorilla masks, the group launched a series of poster campaigns that highlighted the lack of representation given to women artists and artists of color in museums and galleries. Their posters often had a humorous and ironic tone, and their collaborative process is illuminated in their archives, which are held at the Getty Research Institute.
This early work by the Guerrilla Girls shows them trying new tactics after they realized that traditional protests were not having the effect they’d hoped for. Instead, they turned to designing posters with statistics and simple, humorous messages. For Dearest Art Collector, the “feminine” elements of the design—the cutesy handwriting, pink paper, flower drawing, and endearing, earnest language—form an ironic contrast with the poster’s actual message, which is about sexism in the art world.
The archive of the Guerrilla Girls contains early drafts of Dearest Art Collector, showing the group’s creative process and how they evolved the work. For Guerrilla Girls Review the Whitney, an exhibition critiquing the 1987 Whitney Biennial (one of the art world’s most important events), they created a large version of the work that specifically addressed Alfred Taubman, the chair of the board of trustees, and his conflicting business interests. In 2015, they did another updated version called Dear Billionaire Art Collector, pointing to the low wages paid to museum workers in contrast to the astronomically high prices paid for works of art.
The form of the letter recurs in the Guerrilla Girls’ work and traverses both the public and the private realm. Dearest Art Collector could take the form of a personal postcard mailed to a specific person, or a large poster plastered on a gallery wall. The Guerrilla Girls’ posters included an address for their P.O. Box, which flooded with fan mail from people wanting to show their support for the group.
Getty has joined forces with Smarthistory to bring you an in-depth look at select works within our collection, whether you want to learn more at home or make art more accessible in your classroom. This video series illuminates art history concepts through fun, unscripted conversations between art historians, curators, archaeologists, scientists, and artists, committed to a fresh take on the history of visual arts.
This video was made possible by the GRI Council.
