Opening tonight (Friday, March 8) at Prøve Gallery is the 3rd Annual WTF! (What the Feminist) art exhibit. Organizer Stacie Renne gives us a preview and some background on the show.

SR: WTF! is an exhibition of thought-provoking works of art that advocate for social justice, community action, and civic engagement centered on womxn’s rights and related concerns. Wide-ranging in form from traditional media such as painting, printmaking, drawing, and sculpture to quilting, clothing, photography, embroidery, installation, illustration, graphic design, and protest materials, the purpose of this exhibit is to commemorate International Women’s Day by bringing visual awareness to feminist issues.

This exhibition demonstrates the many feminisms in which our local and regional communities are engaged: celebrations of womanhood; an embrace of central core, or vaginal, iconography; the exploration of “feminine” or “feminist” sensibilities; reclamations of traditional craft techniques; the creation of personal mythologies and narratives; an emphasis on lived experience; engagements with body politics; institutional critique; expressions of sex positivity and girl power; intersectional approaches that consider how gender is tied to race, ethnicity, class, and other identities; visualizations of queer feminism; and more. The various feminist strategies on display affirm the essential ways that social and political concerns, in addition to personal concerns, are feminist concerns.

WTF! is also a testament to the social engagement of individuals from the Twin Ports region and beyond, those who have been galvanized by participating in the reawakening of civil society in our current political climate. Each of the artists represented here has been compelled into action through art, activism, and protest. WTF! is an exhibition that creates a space for centering and inviting dialogue around the concepts of feminist visibility, presence, and power.

OPENING FRIDAY, March 9; 7-10, runs through April 5
Prøve Gallery, 21 N. Lake Ave., Duluth