Fonds GB 106 6FYA - Fanny Adams pressure group

0.5 A box

GB 106 6FYA 1992-1993 fonds 0.5 A box Fanny Adams

Fanny Adams (1992-1993) was an anonymous pressure group that was active from around Feb 1992 to Jun 1993. Based on the American 'Guerilla Girls', the group of women art practitioners from diverse backgrounds campaigned to publicly expose inequality and discrimination within the art world and to give women a stronger and more prominent role. Their key protest concerned the low representation of women artists in major London commercial galleries and in magazine reviews. Using the slogan 'Fanny Adams puts you in the picture' they ran a media campaign in the form of flyering, stickering and placing adverts or 'information pieces' in magazines including Art Monthly, Women's Art, Frieze and The Artist's Newsletter. They used statistical evidence to point out women's under-representation in art galleries, as well as 'naming and shaming' key figures in the art world responsible for showing and purchasing artists' work, including Nicholas Serota and Norman Rosenthal. The anonymity of the group allowed them to target individuals and galleries alike, for example: the posters for the 'Gravity and Grace' exhibition of sculpture at the Hayward Gallery was targeted with the text '95% female-free', and in Jan 1992 a thousand greeting cards with the proclamation 'Fanny Adams invites you to reconsider' was sent to key representatives in the visual arts. The Barbican Art Gallery reproduced the Fanny Adams advertisement 'Anthony D'Offay showed less than 15% women artists, or none at all, in 1991', in the exhibition Cutting Edge (Aug to Oct 1992).

Anonymous donation [the anonymity of the donation was in keeping with the ethos of Fanny Adams which was made up of anonymous members].

The archive consists of copies of information pieces that appeared in art magazines during their media campaign to draw attention to discrimination and inequality in the art world. It also includes an article about Fanny Adams, a bibliography of 'Fanny's moments in the press' and video footage of events, including 'Fanny's Big Ball', 28 Oct 1992.

This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit.

English

The Women's Library Catalogue

Further material relating to Fanny Adams is held by The Women's Art Library (MAKE) at Goldsmiths University Library Special Collections.

Finding aid created by export from CALM v7.2.14 Archives Hub EAD2002. Edited for AIM25 by Sarah Drewery.

In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

31/01/2008 Organizations Associations Womens organizations Employment Womens employment Social and economic rights Equal opportunity Artists Women artists Art galleries Exhibitions Women Fanny Adams (organization) Sex Sex distribution

Anonymous donation [the anonymity of the donation was in keeping with the ethos of Fanny Adams which was made up of anonymous members].

The archive consists of copies of information pieces that appeared in art magazines during their media campaign to draw attention to discrimination and inequality in the art world. It also includes an article about Fanny Adams, a bibliography of 'Fanny's moments in the press' and video footage of events, including 'Fanny's Big Ball', 28 Oct 1992.

This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit.

• English

• Latin

English

Further material relating to Fanny Adams is held by The Women's Art Library (MAKE) at Goldsmiths University Library Special Collections.

The Women's Library Catalogue

In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• English