“Do women have to be named to get into the Met. Museum?” – Guerrilla Girls, 2011 

The Guerrilla Girls are a  largely anonymous syndicate of artists who utilize humor and stark visuals to spread awareness about the bias that exists within art, film, and popular culture as a means to ignite the sparks of social change.  

These individuals are often depicted or seen wearing gorilla masks when in the public eye, and often adopt the names of long past female artists to remain anonymous. This group has been active since the late 1980s. They continue to operate today by educating people on discrimination and inequity that women and artists of color face daily. 

On April 14th, the UND Department of Art and Design hosted the opening reception in the Memorial Union’s Gallery Space of an exhibition entitled: Guerrilla Girls “The Art of Behaving Badly.” The exhibition was developed by Professor Nicole Derenne’s advanced art history students, whose focus this semester was feminist art.  

This was a catered event that took place from 4 to 6 pm. Those in attendance included various members of the art department faculty and students, as well as Andrew and Kathy Armacost. Towards the end of the reception, attendees were encouraged to join in on a group picture wearing gorilla masks that had been handed out earlier that evening.  

The exhibit will remain open until July 15th, 2022, and is free to all. If you have not been able to check this exhibition out in person, I highly recommend doing so before it closes. There is not only a lot of strong imagery but also a great deal of information to learn from and walk away with.  

This exhibition was curated by the following students: 

Mahsa Attaran 

Jayson Coley 

Caitlin Collins 

Myah Fitzsimonds 

Jessie Grabowski 

Blithe Grey 

Ireland Hanson 

Alex Midgarden 

Brieanne Schleppi 

Grayson Smith 

Jacey Spaeth 

Alexa Steen 

Liam Young 

Demetria Slyt is a Dakota Student Opinion Writer. She can be reached at [email protected].