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3 Ways to Write a Museum Wall Label When the Artist is a Sexual Predator
3 Ways to Write a Museum Wall Label When the Artist is a Sexual Predator

3 Ways to Write a Museum Wall Label When the Artist is a Sexual Predator

Guerrilla Girls (American, 1985 to present)
2018
Medium/TechniquePoster, archival ink jet print
DimensionsSheet: 46 × 61 cm (18 1/8 × 24 in.)
Credit LineFrederick Brown Fund
Accession number2021.142.1
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPrints
Description
Since 1985, a group of women artists who call themselves the Guerrilla Girls have become internationally known for their posters, books, and public events that decry the lack of representation of women in arts institutions, and grapple with contemporary museum practice. The Guerrilla Girls’ "Portfolio Compleat," which the Museum purchased in 2014, is a comprehensive collection of one hundred objects documenting their printed projects from 1985 through 2012. This portfolio "update" brings our representation of Guerrilla Girls projects up to date as of 2021 with an additional thirty-five objects—including posters, stickers, artist’s books, and videos—dating from 2012–2018. Among these is the poster "3 Ways to Write a Wall Label When the Artist is a Sexual Predator," released by the Guerrilla Girls in the wake of sexual harassment accusations involving artist Chuck Close. The poster suggests three labels for an object by Close, with differing texts depending on a museum’s level of commitment to transparency when addressing such issues.

Provenance2021, sold by the Guerrilla Girls to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 24, 2021)