The exhibit “Not Ready to Make Nice: Guerilla Girls in the Art World and Beyond” is a major presentation of the feminist art collective showcasing works from the past 30 years. The Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art on the Cal State San Bernardino campus is hosting the exhibition Feb. 11 to May 20.

The exhibition puts the spotlight on the past and ongoing work of the Guerilla Girls, a group of female artists who aimed to highlight issues involving women and art. The group began in 1985 and by the year 2000 consisted of nearly 100 women. They worked together and anonymously (taking on the names of dead female artists and hiding their faces behind gorilla masks), designing posters and billboards and taking part in public acts and other projects with the purpose of trying to make feminism funny yet fashionable and a topic of discussion. Since then, Guerilla Girls Inc. continues to use provocative wordings and visuals — both with generous doses of humor — to further the promotion of feminism and social change.

Neysa Page-Lieberman is curating the exhibition, which is a traveling presentation organized by Columbia College in Chicago. It will make its West Coast debut at CSUSB.

“This is the 10th museum to host this exhibition,” she said. “It’s really evolved and the story, context and impact has changed along the way.”

Yet the work, which the Guerilla Girls began decades ago, continues today, especially in the current political climate.

“Every time the exhibition opens, something in society happens that speaks to what it’s about,” Page-Lieberman said. “I think the exhibition can provide a valuable departure point to tackle issues important to us. Those include Title IV issues, job and pay equity, gender acceptance and immigration.

The Fullerton Museum of Art will offer a selection of the group’s most iconic campaigns and actions from the 1980s and ’90s. The installations feature documentary material, behind-the-scenes photos and anecdotes providing a glimpse of the group and what it aimed to accomplish. This exhibition also showcases Guerilla Girls’ work done within the last decade, some of which hasn’t been seen.

Visitors can read some of the artists’ favorite “love letters and hate mail.” They are encouraged to pen their own thoughts on an interactive wall installation. Along with the exhibition, the museum will conduct “A Conversation With the Guerrilla Girls” on April 13 from 6-8 p.m. It will be a historical and anecdotal look back at the group’s art and activism. The group is scheduled to attend.

“A little girl may ask, are things better? If so why do we need them,” Page-Lieberman said. “Unfortunately we’re talking about hundreds of years of misogyny, where women and other genders have been put in a fixed place. Now, it’s women, the LGBT community and immigrants. We need to equal the playing field and put rights in place for everyone. I think most people would agree we are taking a huge step backward.”

But she is heartened by the number of people standing up and challenging the status quo.

“I haven’t seen this type of activism in years,” she said. “With marches at the inauguration, the Women’s March and now marches in support of refugees, we’re hearing the frustration. I think we’re all in a good place to protest because we know our rights and we’re in a position to stand up.”

She hopes “Not Ready to Make Nice: Guerilla Girls in the Art World and Beyond” will be seen as a teaching moment and part of the overall learning process. Her original intention for the exhibition was to let younger and more mainstream audiences know the Guerilla Girls are still active. The present political scene is providing opportunities to let people know as well.

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