Fecal Face Dot Gallery curator and director, Rachel Ralph, had the idea to curate “4%ERS”, a group show which alludes to the 4 percent of female artists found by the Guerilla Girls at the Met in 2011. “4%ERS”, which opens Friday, September 25, was conceived from a similar idea that Ralph had when she realized that she, too, had unknowingly been showing artwork created primarily by male artists.

Somewhat of a rogue feminist collective, the Guerilla Girls have operated anonymously over the years, wearing gorilla masks and using dead artist’s names as pseudonyms, while embarking on artistic missions to dispel oversimplified ideas of identity and sex.

Bunnie Reiss, “Gentle Conversations with the Moon and Sun” in acrylic

“4%ERS” will present pieces from over twenty female artists working across varying media such as street art, sculpture and painting. Their collective body of work explores themes of feminity, ethnicity and desire, among others concepts, portrayed through often surrealist sketches and watercolor interpretations of space, environment and culture.
The concept of “4%ERS” also draws influence from Occupy Wall Street’s slogan “We are the 99%”, as well as from motorcycle clubs of the 1950s and 60s like the Hell’s Angels who began a movement to distinguish “good” riders from “outlaws” by sporting patches that referred to themselves as a “1%er”.

“Grace Jones” is Lola Dupre’s paper collage on wood

“I thought it would be kind of cool to capitalize on this kind of idea,” said Ralph. In her description of the show, she gives a voice to the artists by saying, “We are the 4%ers. We claim walls (inside and out). We make work. We’re outsiders in a professional field previously not available to us. We are not the 96% you’ve become accustomed to. And we don’t want to be.”

FFDG initially started out as a zine and later became the website Fecal Face Dot Com in 2000 before launching its Mission gallery in 2008. It has always had a slant toward counterculture and showcasing work from a broad range of artists who often find inspiration outside of the mainstream.

For a full list of the participating artists and more information visit http://www.ffdg.net/. The show will run from September 25th to October 24th.

Monica Canilao, “All Seeing”, mixed media and found pieces

Angela Fox, “Let’s All Hang Out”, Gouache and marker on museum board

• Tag: Art, fecal face dot gallery