New York artists invade the East Coast, captivate Wolfville audience.

A8

Beth Lyons

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They're mercilessly sharp, irreverent, and funny; they've been featured in the Tate Modern, Pompidou Centre and the Venice Biennale. They've been solicited to produce art for the Washington Post, have launched devastating billboard critiques of sexism and racism in the Oscars "" and they've just invaded the East Coast for the first time, wearing gorilla masks, of course.

The Guerrilla Girls are a group of activist artists formed in New York City in 1985 to address the rampant sexism and racism of the art world. They gained notoriety not only for their message, but their tactics: guerrilla poster art by members wearing gorilla masks and assuming the names of dead female artists to protect their identities and careers from retribution. Since their inception, they have continued to attack systemic discrimination in the art world with humour, but have also widened their focus to include Hollywood, daily stereotypes and what they call "pure politics." They have published two books, displayed their messages on mammoth billboards, and even been invited to showcase their work in the same galleries they often criticize.

Part of their expansion has been to present public talks on their work, accompanied by exhibits of their work and public workshops on their tactics. Their fall lineup includes their first-ever exhibit on the East Coast of Canada at the Acadia University Art Gallery in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Their exclusive East Coast exhibit kicked off last weekend with two of the founding members of the Guerrilla Girls, Frida Kahlo and Kathe Kollwitz, in Wolfville to unveil their exhibit. The day after the opening, I sat down with the epic artists, before they ran off to sound check for their public performance.

Kahlo and Kollwitz strode into the art gallery in their jungle-drag: all black clothing, topped off by a furry, rubber-faced guerrilla mask. Kahlo in pants, shirt and cardigan, with a mask featuring a smidge of glittery pink lipstick; Kollwitz wearing a skirt, shirt with fashionably wide belt, evening gloves with the tips cut off, and pink metallic glasses barely visible behind her gorilla mask.

The two artists explain that they have been involved in almost everything that the Guerrilla Girls have done in their nearly 25 years of activity, and say their work will never be done.

"The face of exclusion changes every generation. For instance, we had no idea tokenism would be a response (to our work)."

They do see progress occurring though, saying that art history is catching up in terms of inclusion (or accuracy, if you will), but that the art market still has a glass ceiling that severely limits artists. Besides, they quip, "Bad news is good news to us, we're professional complainers!"

Near the end of our talk, I ask Kollwitz if they ever have the urge to rip off their masks. "Yes!," she exclaims. "Especially Frida and I. There is a teeny little part that wants credit."

But that urge won't win. The masks, Kollwitz says, "Made the group pure in a certain way."

She goes on to explain that she essentially thinks of herself as two artists in one body "" the guerrilla girl as well as the artist she is outside of the guerrilla girls.

"Everyone should put on a mask and see what it's like!"

The evening's performance offers an extension of many of the subjects touched on during our interview. The free talk and performance filled Wolfville's 500-seat Festival Theatre to near capacity and throngs of people lined up outdoors in hopes of snagging unclaimed tickets.

Laurie Dalton, Director and Curator of the Acadia University Art Gallery, introduced the Guerrilla Girls' public talk and performance, her excitement obvious and infectious.

"I'm really kind of beside myself over who we have in Wolfville today," she says.

The credit for their visit largely rests with her; Dalton says that in the back of her mind, she always has a list of fantastic artists that she would love to see at the Art Gallery "" and the Guerrilla Girls have been on that list since she studied them during her time as an undergraduate in Acadia's now-defunct Art History program.

Dalton says the process of getting the Guerrilla Girls to Wolfville began approximately a year ago, with her contacting the artists out of the blue. The Guerrilla Girls were very interested from the beginning and Dalton worked on securing the required support to make the visit happen, including help from the Province of Nova Scotia through the Department of Tourism, Culture & Heritage and various offices and groups from Acadia University.

When Dalton surrenders the stage to the Guerrilla Girls, they enter from the back of the theatre, making their way down the stadium seating aisle, offering audience members bananas.

"These bananas magically transform you when you eat them"¦ into a feminist!," they exclaim.

Part of the Guerrilla Girl mandate is to fight back against the demonization of the word "feminist."

"One of our goals from the very beginning was to change people's minds to that f-word, feminism. The word is terribly stigmatized: people believe in feminist causes, but won't call themselves feminists."

The rest of the performance included a discussion on tokenism ("is tokenism a solution to the problem of exclusion or is it an extension to the problem of exclusion?"), how they deal with being invited to display their work in the same sexist and racist museums they're attacking. ("It's such a thrill to criticize an institution on its own walls!"), and revealed some of their upcoming projects, including a book entitled 'The Hysterical Herstory of Hysteria,' along with a project on the Montreal Massacre.

"Change doesn't just happen, you have to fight for it," they chime. "Invent your own way of being an activist, artist, feminist!"

Though the Guerrilla Girls have fled Wolfville, the display of their work remains in the Acadia Art Gallery until November 1st and is open and free for public viewing.

Visit www.guerrillagirls.com/ or www.gallery.acadiau.ca for more information.