Where are the Women Artists of Venice?
- Artist: Guerrilla Girls
- Date: 2005
- Medium: Digital print on paper
- Dimensions: image: 584 x 380 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Where are the Women Artists of Venice?” by Guerrilla Girls. It’s a 2005 digital print on paper that uses bold pink and yellow backgrounds to deliver a punchy message about gender disparity. The Guerrilla Girls, an anonymous collective of women artists, started in 1985 after seeing only 13 women among 169 artists in a MoMA exhibition. They use gorilla masks and adopt the names of celebrated female figures like Frida Kahlo and Gertrude Stein to hide identities while flying posters on street corners and in galleries. This particular poster asks a simple, striking question that points to the exclusion of women from the Venice Biennale and, by extension, many institutions worldwide. The design mixes raw statistics with a dry, sarcastic tone that keeps the viewer engaged while the facts speak for themselves. It reminds us that activism can still be as bold as the colors on the canvas.
See it in person
Where are the Women Artists of Venice? is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
