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The Guerrilla Girls are an anonymous group who describe themselves as feminist activist artists. They use facts, humor and visuals to expose gender and racial discrimination in politics, art, film, and popular culture. This poster, highlighting the lack of women artists in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection in New York, was designed as a billboard. It was commissioned by the Public Art Fund in New York but was rejected. The Guerrilla Girls then paid to put it on the side of New York City buses to make sure it would still be seen. Since forming in 1984, Guerilla Girls have been involved in hundreds of projects all over the world. Their identities remain unknown.

Whaam! is based on an image Lichtenstein found in a 1962 DC comic, All American Men of War. Lichtenstein often used art from comics and adverts in his paintings. He saw the act of taking an existing image and changing the context as a way of transforming it’s meaning. Lichtenstein was interested in emotional subjects, such as love and war. His work takes on these themes in a distant and impersonal way.

Tseng Kwong Chi’s work explores cultural difference and belonging. He uses re-enactment to confront and subvert societal constructions of race and identity. Tseng used a large-format camera and shutter release cable to stage self-portraits at tourist sites in the US and Europe. He wore a ‘Zhongshan suit’ or ‘Mao suit’ (a tunic-style suit with a flipped collar) to adopt the identity of a Chinese government official. Tseng’s performance reveals the prejudice of observers, who may assume he is a communist foreign dignitary visiting a famous Western landmark. This portrayal contrasts with Tseng’s identity as an artist living and working in New York.