Oswaldo Maciá

Guerrilla Girls, You’re Seeing Less Than Half The Picture  1989

The Guerrilla Girls are an anonymous group of activist artists who highlight sexism and racism in the art world. They formed in 1985 in New York City, USA. Shortly after, their posters appeared overnight in the streets of the New York art district of SoHo. The group’s targets included artists, gallery owners, and museums. Over the years their focus has widened to include other areas of inequality. The Guerrilla Girls wear gorilla masks in public and use pseudonyms. They continue to expose discrimination and to produce new provocative posters. Their work now includes books, videos and workshops in schools, colleges and art institutions.

Gallery label, August 2021

Ian Hamilton Finlay, Port-Distinguishing Letters of Scottish Fishing Vessels [collaboration with George L Thomson]  1976

Edward Ruscha, DAILY PLANET  2003

The source for the text in DAILY PLANET is deliberately hard to pin down. It might connect with the natural imagery behind it. It is also the name of the newspaper Clark Kent writes for in the Superman comics. Ruscha has described the work’s title as ‘mysterious and teasing’. In an interview he claimed, ‘I’m empty headed in many ways, and don’t know why I follow what I follow. Like most people, I operate on an automatic mode, and everything is an involuntary reflex. Logic flies out of the window when you’re making a picture, at least it does with me. And thank God it does.’

Gallery label, July 2019

Richard Long CBE, In the Cloud  1991

In the Cloud is a large framed text work, printed on off-white paper. The title words ‘IN THE CLOUD’ are printed in red capital letters in Gill Sans typeface. Below is a text printed in black capitals in the same font:

Guerrilla Girls, What’s the Difference between a POW and a Homeless Person?  1991

Guerrilla Girls Portfolio Compleat Update 1991–2012 is a portfolio of works produced between 1991 and 2012 by the anonymous collective of American female artists known as the Guerilla Girls. It contains fifty-four poster projects of variable dimensions – twenty-six black and white offset lithographs on paper and twenty-eight colour digital prints on paper – alongside a printed plastic bag, three sheets of stickers and two issues of the newsletter Hot Flashes from 1994 (vol.1, nos.2 and 3, and vol.1, no.4). The portfolio also includes three books produced between 1998 and 2012 – The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art, Bitches Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls’ Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes and The Guerrilla Girls’ Art Museum Activity Book – as well as their most recent text, The Hysterical Herstory of Hysteria and How It Was Cured, in digital form on compact disc in advance of publication. Two of the black and white prints are accompanied by postcards addressed to Thomas Krens and Margit Rowell – former director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and chief curator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York respectively – that the public were encouraged to fill in and post as a sign of support for the Guerrilla Girls project. This version of the portfolio has been uniquely compiled for Tate to complement its existing holdings (Guerrilla Girls Talk Back [Tate P78788–P78817], a portfolio of thirty posters produced between 1985 and 1990), and each work is an artists’ proof aside from the edition of fifty.

Guerrilla Girls, Top Ten Signs That You’re an Art World Token  1995

Guerrilla Girls Portfolio Compleat Update 1991–2012 is a portfolio of works produced between 1991 and 2012 by the anonymous collective of American female artists known as the Guerilla Girls. It contains fifty-four poster projects of variable dimensions – twenty-six black and white offset lithographs on paper and twenty-eight colour digital prints on paper – alongside a printed plastic bag, three sheets of stickers and two issues of the newsletter Hot Flashes from 1994 (vol.1, nos.2 and 3, and vol.1, no.4). The portfolio also includes three books produced between 1998 and 2012 – The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art, Bitches Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls’ Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes and The Guerrilla Girls’ Art Museum Activity Book – as well as their most recent text, The Hysterical Herstory of Hysteria and How It Was Cured, in digital form on compact disc in advance of publication. Two of the black and white prints are accompanied by postcards addressed to Thomas Krens and Margit Rowell – former director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and chief curator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York respectively – that the public were encouraged to fill in and post as a sign of support for the Guerrilla Girls project. This version of the portfolio has been uniquely compiled for Tate to complement its existing holdings (Guerrilla Girls Talk Back [Tate P78788–P78817], a portfolio of thirty posters produced between 1985 and 1990), and each work is an artists’ proof aside from the edition of fifty.

Guerrilla Girls, 3 White Women, 1 Woman of Color and No Men of Color out of 71 Artists?  1997

Guerrilla Girls Portfolio Compleat Update 1991–2012 is a portfolio of works produced between 1991 and 2012 by the anonymous collective of American female artists known as the Guerilla Girls. It contains fifty-four poster projects of variable dimensions – twenty-six black and white offset lithographs on paper and twenty-eight colour digital prints on paper – alongside a printed plastic bag, three sheets of stickers and two issues of the newsletter Hot Flashes from 1994 (vol.1, nos.2 and 3, and vol.1, no.4). The portfolio also includes three books produced between 1998 and 2012 – The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art, Bitches Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls’ Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes and The Guerrilla Girls’ Art Museum Activity Book – as well as their most recent text, The Hysterical Herstory of Hysteria and How It Was Cured, in digital form on compact disc in advance of publication. Two of the black and white prints are accompanied by postcards addressed to Thomas Krens and Margit Rowell – former director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and chief curator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York respectively – that the public were encouraged to fill in and post as a sign of support for the Guerrilla Girls project. This version of the portfolio has been uniquely compiled for Tate to complement its existing holdings (Guerrilla Girls Talk Back [Tate P78788–P78817], a portfolio of thirty posters produced between 1985 and 1990), and each work is an artists’ proof aside from the edition of fifty.

Guerrilla Girls, Where are the Women Artists of Venice?  2005

Guerrilla Girls Portfolio Compleat Update 1991–2012 is a portfolio of works produced between 1991 and 2012 by the anonymous collective of American female artists known as the Guerilla Girls. It contains fifty-four poster projects of variable dimensions – twenty-six black and white offset lithographs on paper and twenty-eight colour digital prints on paper – alongside a printed plastic bag, three sheets of stickers and two issues of the newsletter Hot Flashes from 1994 (vol.1, nos.2 and 3, and vol.1, no.4). The portfolio also includes three books produced between 1998 and 2012 – The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art, Bitches Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls’ Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes and The Guerrilla Girls’ Art Museum Activity Book – as well as their most recent text, The Hysterical Herstory of Hysteria and How It Was Cured, in digital form on compact disc in advance of publication. Two of the black and white prints are accompanied by postcards addressed to Thomas Krens and Margit Rowell – former director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and chief curator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York respectively – that the public were encouraged to fill in and post as a sign of support for the Guerrilla Girls project. This version of the portfolio has been uniquely compiled for Tate to complement its existing holdings (Guerrilla Girls Talk Back [Tate P78788–P78817], a portfolio of thirty posters produced between 1985 and 1990), and each work is an artists’ proof aside from the edition of fifty.

Guerrilla Girls, Horror on the National Mall!  2007

Guerrilla Girls Portfolio Compleat Update 1991–2012 is a portfolio of works produced between 1991 and 2012 by the anonymous collective of American female artists known as the Guerilla Girls. It contains fifty-four poster projects of variable dimensions – twenty-six black and white offset lithographs on paper and twenty-eight colour digital prints on paper – alongside a printed plastic bag, three sheets of stickers and two issues of the newsletter Hot Flashes from 1994 (vol.1, nos.2 and 3, and vol.1, no.4). The portfolio also includes three books produced between 1998 and 2012 – The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art, Bitches Bimbos and Ballbreakers: The Guerrilla Girls’ Illustrated Guide to Female Stereotypes and The Guerrilla Girls’ Art Museum Activity Book – as well as their most recent text, The Hysterical Herstory of Hysteria and How It Was Cured, in digital form on compact disc in advance of publication. Two of the black and white prints are accompanied by postcards addressed to Thomas Krens and Margit Rowell – former director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and chief curator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York respectively – that the public were encouraged to fill in and post as a sign of support for the Guerrilla Girls project. This version of the portfolio has been uniquely compiled for Tate to complement its existing holdings (Guerrilla Girls Talk Back [Tate P78788–P78817], a portfolio of thirty posters produced between 1985 and 1990), and each work is an artists’ proof aside from the edition of fifty.

Ian Hamilton Finlay, Starlit Waters  1967

Lawrence Weiner, TIED UP IN KNOTS  1988

Lawrence Weiner, TUCKED IN AT THE CORNERS  1988

Andy Warhol, Hamburger  1985–6

Hamburger is a duplicated image of an advertisement, silkscreened in black onto canvas with a white background. In this high contrast reproduction the original image has been simplified to the extent that most of the detail has been lost and only the black outline remains. The central line of text exclaims ‘HAMBURGER’ in capital letters, with the words ‘Wholesome’ and ‘Delicious’ in smaller text beneath, with no reference to a particular brand name. Warhol doubled the image to form a diptych, which has then been set within one frame to make a single work. The light coloured background and black ink mark a departure from the bold colours of Warhol’s earlier prints.

Douglas Gordon, I am the curator of my own misery.  2010

Ian Hamilton Finlay, IDYLLS END IN THUNDERSTORMS  1986

Mario Merz, Che Fare?  1968–73

Che Fare? consists of a two-handled oblong aluminium tub filled with yellow beeswax, on top of which is a light blue neon sign that reads ‘che fare?’. These words are written in a script modelled on the artist’s own handwriting, which has a continuous flow that makes the two words almost appear as one. A white electrical wire on the left handle of the tub attaches the work to a power supply. There are several versions of this work, another of which is held at the GAM-Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin.

Bruce Nauman, Partial Truth  1997

Partial Truth comprises a rectangular slab of polished black granite into which have been carved the words ‘PARTIAL TRUTH’ over two lines in the Roman-style lettering scriptura monumentalis. While the word ‘PARTIAL’ is centrally aligned on the upper register, the word ‘TRUTH’ below is indented slightly to the right of centre. The inscribed letters are a lighter colour than the polished surface of the slab so that they stand out against the black. The artist has specified that the sculpture may be displayed directly on the floor, propped up against a wall, or placed on a gilded shelf. When installed on the floor the slab is placed on a shallow wooden plinth, with the letters pointing up to the ceiling, so that a shadow is cast underneath the slab making it appear as though it is floating just above the floor. On the reverse side, ‘Bruce Nauman’ has been inscribed into the stone using a machine, accompanied by the stone-maker’s mark ‘Gemini GEL’ and a symbol comprising the letter U within a small circle. The reverse left corner has been inscribed BN97-2181 5/25, indicating that this work is number five of an edition of twenty-five.

Lawrence Weiner, ROUGHLY RIPPED APART  1988

Lawrence Weiner, DAUBED WITH MUCK AND MIRE  1988

Lawrence Weiner, STRAIGHT DOWN TO BELOW  1988

Lawrence Weiner, FIRE AND BRIMSTONE SET IN A HOLLOW FORMED BY HAND  1988

Lawrence Weiner, SILVER THREADS ENTWINED IN THREADS OF GOLD  1988

Lawrence Weiner, TAKEN UP WITH  1988

Lawrence Weiner, WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH  1988

Louise Bourgeois, I Am Afraid  2009

I Am Afraid is a fabric work by the French-born American artist Louise Bourgeois featuring lines of text woven into canvas. Short statements and individual words in upper case are woven in grey thread into the grey-beige fabric and are grouped into four stanzas. Both the first and the third stanza contain five lines of text; the second stanza contains three lines; and the fourth stanza contains two lines. The text reads:

Lawrence Weiner, AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE: Melodic Noise for Radio  2007

Guerrilla Girls, Pop Quiz Update  2016

Guerrilla Girls Portfolio Compleat Upgrade 2012–2016 is a portfolio of twenty-seven works produced by an anonymous collective of American female artists between 2012 and 2016. Published as an open edition, it contains twenty-one poster projects of varying dimensions – twenty colour digital prints on paper and one black and white inkjet print on paper – alongside seven sheets of stickers and four videos documenting public performances by the Guerilla Girls at institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and the Museum Ludwig, Cologne. The portfolio also includes two books published in 2016, The Hysterical Herstory of Hysteria and How It Was Cured and Is It Even Worse in Europe: Whitechapel Survey.

Ian Hamilton Finlay, A LAST WORD: RUDDER  1999

Lawrence Weiner, CRUSHED BETWEEN COBBLESTONES  1988

Guerrilla Girls, Women In America Earn Only 2/3 Of What Men Do  1985

Formed in 1985, the Guerrilla Girls are an anonymous activist group who highlight discrimination in the art world. Their targets include museums, dealers, curators and art critics. They fly-posted their first posters overnight in the fashionable New York art district of SoHo, and have also displayed their work as advertisements on city buses. Over the years their attacks on sexism have widened to other areas of social, racial and gender-based inequality. The Guerrilla Girls wear gorilla masks for public appearances and use the names of famous deceased artists and writers as pseudonyms.

Gallery label, February 2016