THE PRE-VINYLETTES' SUFFRAGETTE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION
The Pre-Vinylette Suffragette Centennial Exhibition
Ford Gallery, Portland, Oregon
September 26 - October 25, 2020
As a follow-up to the world’s first all-women’s sign painting exhibition—2017’s The Pre-Vinylette Society: An International Showcase of Women Sign Painters— The Gentle Revolution is very pleased to present The Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial, a unique exhibition of hand painted signs made exclusively by women, trans, and nonbinary sign painters in the commemorative spirit of this landmark anniversary in the history of women’s rights. The exhibition features an international array of more than sixty-five artists, whose sign work presents a wide range of experience, skill, and technique.
The Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial is intended as both a celebration and a critique of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted American women the right to vote in 1920. While this feminist achievement is universally lauded as a success, many of the Pre-Vinylette artists use this occasion to address the marginalization and suppression of suffrage that continues to this day for many women of color in America.
In the spirit of critical and intersectional feminism, this exhibition features hand painted signs that honor, critique, analyze, and / or reimagine how far women and nonmen have come in the last century and how far we have yet to go. As this exhibition takes place during a significant and contentious American election season, the artists take this opportunity to explore political topics, topics of women’s, trans’, and nonbinary empowerment, and themes of positive change for a healthier world.
The inspiration for this exhibition comes from Remedios Rapoport’s Gentle Revolution Mobile, a kinetic sign sculpture that encompasses the viewer with changing “word portrait” messages of healthy social change, which was a centerpiece of the 2017 Pre-Vinylette exhibition at Chicago Art Department. The mobile and messages of The Gentle Revolution manifesto serve as a platform for the 2020 Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial exhibition at Ford Gallery.
The exhibition is organized by Shelby Rodeffer, Meredith Kasabian, and Remedios Rapoport.
EVENTS RELATED TO THE EXHIBITION
"Fight for the Things You Care About" mural: designed by Liane Barker of Brush and Pen Studio and painted by Liane, Rach H Designs, and Alana Wilkie in Brisbane, Australia. Quote by Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
"Pre-Vinylettes Suffragette" features Anna Weber's Pre-Vinylettes' Suffragette Centennial poster overlapping an existing mural, with additions by exhibition co-curator and Gentle Revolution founder, Remedios Rapoport.
VIRTUAL OPENING RECEPTION
September 26, 2020, narrated by Heidi Tullmann of Handsome Hand Signs
Cover design by Anna Weber of Astoria Signs, layout design by Michelle Meng Nguyen of Signs by Meng, editing and essay by Meredith Kasabian
PANEL DISCUSSION
The Pre-Vinylettes online panel discussion took place on Saturday, October 17 at 4pm Eastern time via Zoom. The discussion was moderated by co-curator Meredith Kasabian and lasted about two and a half hours. It covered the following topics:
• Introduction with co-curators Shelby Rodeffer, Meredith Kasabian, and Remedios Rapoport
• Pre-Vinylettes Portland Mural with Remedios
• Pre-Vinylettes Australia Mural with Liane Barker
• Sign Painting as a Social Justice Tool with Nisha K. Sethi, Olivia Trimble, and Shley Kinser
• Misogyny in Women's Spaces with Shelby and Good Snake
• Prioritizing Diversity in Sign Work with Sharon Manhart and Michelle Meng Nguyen
EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
Jess Malane
Poster design by Anna Weber of Astoria Signs
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
As a follow-up to the world’s first all-women’s sign painting exhibition—2017’s The Pre-Vinylette Society: An International Showcase of Women Sign Painters— The Gentle Revolution is very pleased to present The Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial, a unique exhibition of hand painted signs made exclusively by women, trans, and post-binary sign painters in the commemorative spirit of this landmark anniversary in the history of women’s rights. The exhibition features an international array of more than sixty-five artists, whose sign work presents a wide range of experience, skill, and technique.
The Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial is intended as both a celebration and a critique of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted American women the right to vote in 1920. While this feminist achievement is universally lauded as a success, many of the Pre-Vinylette artists use this occasion to address the marginalization and suppression of suffrage that continues to this day for many women of color in America.
In the spirit of critical and intersectional feminism, this exhibition features hand painted signs that honor, critique, analyze, and / or reimagine how far women and nonmen have come in the last century and how far we have yet to go. As this exhibition takes place during a significant and contentious American election season, the artists take this opportunity to explore political topics, topics of women’s, trans’, and post-binary empowerment, and themes of positive change for a healthier world.
The inspiration for this exhibition comes from Remedios Rapoport’s Gentle Revolution Mobile, a kinetic sign sculpture that encompasses the viewer with changing “word portrait” messages of healthy social change, which was a centerpiece of the 2017 Pre-Vinylette exhibition at Chicago Art Department. The mobile and messages of The Gentle Revolution manifesto serve as a platform for the 2020 Pre-Vinylettes’ Suffragette Centennial exhibition at Ford Gallery.
The exhibition runs from September 26 through October 25, 2020 at Ford Gallery in Portland, Oregon and is organized by Shelby Rodeffer, Meredith Kasabian, and Remedios Rapoport.
