4%ers: A Group Art Show | SF

Submitted by the Event Organizer

FFDG is pleased to present 4%ers a group show with works by Mariel Bayona, Pakayla Rae Biehn, Monica Canilao, Claw Money, Deb, Lola Dupre, Kristin Farr, Michelle Fleck, Angela Fox, Mel Kadel, Aubrey Learner, Lauren Napolitano, Kelly Ording, Pacolli, Meryl Pataky, Emily Proud, Bunnie Reiss, Erin M. Riley, Jenny Sharaf, Minka Sicklinger, Winnie Truong, Kelly Tunstall, Nicomi Nix Turner, and Lauren YS. All of the artists are working in varying media from drawing to painting to neon and sculpture. An opening reception is scheduled for Friday, September 25th (6-9pm). Beer and wine will be available. Most of the artists will be present.

In 1989, the feminist, activist, artist group The Guerrilla Girls took a Sunday stroll through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, conducting what they called “a weenie count.” The search found that while 85% of the nudes displayed in the museum are women, only 5% of the artists showing were themselves female, creating a huge, and what should have been very obvious, disparity in the art world. What’s worse? They did another “weenie search” in 2011 and things have only gotten more egregious; only 4% of the artists displayed in the modern arts sections were women. Instead of perpetuating this inequality, 4%ers seeks to reclaim the other 96% of wall space in modern art institutions, with 100% of our wall space dedicated to this work.

In addition to the reclamation of female presence in the art world, 4%ers also alludes to an outlaw, or at least outsider, status when it comes to access in the art world. With the rise of motorcycle clubs like the Hells Angels in the 1950s and 60s, due to the public attention they began to draw, the American Motorcycle Association felt the need to distinguish “good” riders from their outlaw counterparts. In another statistical determination, the AMA concluded that 99% of riders were law-abiding citizens and that only 1% could be determined as outlaws. To this day, many members of outlaw motorcycle clubs wear patches that read “1%er” to define themselves as these outlaws, as this one percent.

“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. The 4%ers come from a different ethos, a different approach, and even a different chromosomal determination. We’re making the former glass ceiling our current glass floor. Come join us for a dance on it.”

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.