Across history and for centuries, art has been used to represent, amplify, and illustrate voices around the world. Emphasized by their magnitude and influence, various art media have been used to portray emotion and frustration in society, helping develop understanding of the societal norms, expectations, and hierarchies of the period. However, more importantly than (and largely rooted in) representation, art has always been manipulated as a site of marginalization and subsequent resistance. Whether the frustration revolves around the depiction and portrayal of a community, the emphasized expectations of the human body and lifestyle, or simply the specific details of the piece, the emotion and passion art can incite hold extreme power and influence over the flow and reaction of our society.
When focusing on protests and resistance, it’s important to acknowledge the various types that can be used or incited. Generally, these forms break down into: nonviolent action, economic and social noncooperation, and disruptive or confrontational tactics. All these forms of civil disobedience have contributed to and allowed for the amplification of marginalized voices, as well as the subsequent institutional responses that attempt to incorporate diverse opinions and experiences into a cohesive conglomerate that is both considerate and considered.
Art itself is rooted in the opportunity for expression, allowing individuals to share their perspectives and interpretations. Inherently controversial, art provides vast space for dissent and disagreement, and as time grows more and more contemporary, the opportunities for outrage and offense become greater. As artists and their work become more abstract, playing with ideas outside of the canvas, the space for response naturally grows.
Protest art has been used as a tool of information and communication, intended to inform the public about social injustices and issues. Typically created by an activist or activist group, protest art and its various forms are extremely effective in forming social consciousness, creating networks, operating accessibly, and being cost-effective. While it often goes unnoticed, art is applied in all visual aspects of our lives, and it heavily influences our personal mindsets and opinions. Protest art can and does take a variety of forms, and is always unique in its message and intention.
As discrimination and intentional disregard for women in the art industry continue to prevail despite our awareness, protests and groups have formed around this shared disgust. Famous for their provocative criticism of gender discrimination and injustice in the art industry, The Guerrilla Girls challenge the representation of women in both the galleries and the paintings. Highlighting the clear misogyny behind art selection and representation, the Guerrilla Girls are an anonymous collective of feminist artist-activists who use bold graphics, humor, and data to expose corruption in the art world and mass media. Their blatant call-outs of misogyny and sexism within the industry have worked to raise awareness of the injustice, expecting the industries and galleries to be held accountable and to change their patterns. By unapologetically taking up space and using their voices, the Guerrilla Girls have exemplified what it looks like to synthesize and criticize the details and decisions of the art industry.
In Risa Whitson’s Chapter Three article “Feminist Spaces”, she discusses how space is essential in the construction of social identity, writing “…a site that is critical to the construction and maintenance of gendered meaning”(Whitson, 52). Space and context are what determine environments of support and community, or environments of hostility and discrimination. This is important to acknowledge within art and its industry, as we consider WHO is being represented and by WHO. While space and place are social, they also hold within them the reflections of policy. In Kay Anderson's article “The Idea of Chinatown: The Power of Place and Institutional Practice in the Making of a Racial Category”, Anderson argues that social and cultural actions are inherently political, and it is policy that influences the dynamics and constraints of a place. Looking specifically at race, Anderson discusses how geography can play a vital role in the institutionalization of race as a category, and the use of space as a tool of differentiation. This can be seen within art and its industry, as the representations of gender, race, and class are all displayed from a monolithic point of view.
When you think about the vital roles that the environment can have on the individual and the construction of social ideas, it is absolutely imperative that we consider art museums, galleries, and exhibits. Walking into rooms that are designed to showcase works of expression, we must know that the space was carefully curated, and the pieces themselves were comprehensively selected. In a time period where authentic personal expression is hard to come by, it is essential that we watch and judge the decisions of whose voices are exhibited and whose are silenced.
Works Cited
- The Idea of Chinatown: The Power of Place and Institutional Practice in the Making of a Racial Category - Kay Anderson
- Feminist Spaces - Risa Whitson
- Guerrilla Girls Artist Profile - National Museum of Women in the Arts
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