Guerrilla Girls. Troubler le repos

Exhibition Guerrilla Girls. Troubler le repos / Disturbing the Peace will feature twenty Guerrilla Girls posters created between 1985 and 2009, as well as a documentary on the collective. In addition, in conjunction with the Commemorative Events, the Guerrilla Girls have created Troubler le repos / Disturbing the Peace, a work on the theme of violence against women and misogyny in society. Produced by the Galerie de l'UQAM, this work will premiere at the exhibition. To preserve their anonymity, the members of the group wear gorilla masks at public appearances. Since 1985, the Guerrilla Girls have denounced gender inequality through various interventions and provocative posters, often tinged with humour. Their work spares nothing and no one. Their prime target has been the art world, but they have also focused on the film industry, social inequities, ethnic minorities, war and, of course, the concerns and rights of women. The exhibition, an excellent introduction to the work of the collective, is taking place in Canada at a historic juncture, the twentieth anniversary of the tragic events of December 6, 1989 at the École Polytechnique. On that day, a man who claimed to be fighting feminism opened fire on twenty-eight people, killing fourteen women. Troubler le repos / Disturbing the Peace deals with hatred against women and feminism.

Postering Starting November 23, more than 2,500 Troubler le repos / Disturbing the Peace posters will be displayed in Montreal’s public spaces, educational institutions and businesses. This initiative is consistent with the Guerrilla Girls’ methodology: since forming the collective, they have regularly presented work in public spaces to create a powerful impact, capture public attention and generate debate.

Publication A bilingual publication on the Guerrilla Girls is in the works and will be available by spring 2010.

Commemorative Events The exhibition and public postering are part of the commemoration of the Montréal Massacre. The series of Commemorative Events, to be held at UQAM from December 4 to 19, will also include an international symposium, a thematic exhibition and a public gathering. Partnering with the Galerie de l’UQAM on the Commemorative Events are the UQAM Institut de recherches et d’études féministes, the UQAM Service aux collectivités, Muséografik and the Fédération des femmes du Québec.

The collective Guerrilla Girls is a collective of anonymous artists founded in 1985. Their actions, posters, stickers, books, videos and other pamphleteering objects are produced as multiples. Their work has been presented in a number of countries (the U.S., Argentina, China, Spain, Italy, Greece, Mexico, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Serbia, Turkey, etc.) and in shrines of contemporary art (Venice Biennale, MASS MoCA, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Tate Modern, Whitney Museum of American Art, Centre Georges Pompidou, etc.). In their twenty years of existence, the Guerrilla Girls have established a place for themselves in the international art scene.

Exhibition curator Mélanie Boucher is completing her doctorate in art history at UQAM. In 2008, she curated Intrus / Intruders at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Quebec (MNBAQ). In 2003, she was co-curator of ORANGE : Contemporary Art Event of Saint-Hyacinthe. Over the past ten years she has curated other exhibitions at the MNBAQ, the Galerie de l'UQAM, the Musée d'art de Joliette, the Musée régional de Rimouski and Expression, the exhibition centre in Saint-Hyacinthe, etc. In 2005, she received the Prix Relève de la Société des musées québécois, awarded to an individual in the early stages of a museum career.

Guerrilla Girls
Troubler le repos / Disturbing the Peace
Kurator : Melanie Boucher