Nasty Women: From Lubbock to Brussels, The Tinder Art Box for Change

“Nasty Women” art exhibitions (2017-2018) created a collective mobilization of women-identified artists from Lubbock, Texas to Brussels, Belgium. [1]  Artist Roxanne Jackson’s spontaneous Facebook post, following the 2016 US presidential election, was the spark that landed in the tinder box of visually creative women-identified artists. Drawing from the history of feminist artists and activists, we explore how art is a conduit for action and how we move forward within multiple sites of resistance.  

Using social movement theory as a basis for understanding how art activism emerges and appears to decline, I believe the “Nasty Women” art movement of today builds from the women’s movement (Guerrilla Girls) and AIDS activist movement (ACT UP). It is necessary to emphasize the importance of the women-identified aesthetic and political conversation of our time.

[1] Nearly 700 ‘Nasty Women’ Artists Have Teamed Up To Protest Trump, By Priscilla Frank, Huffington Post, 01/04/17