Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Students protest through art at 'NASTY WOMEN x TUFTS'

Femme-Fatale

Since the original Nasty Women exhibition from Jan. 12 to 15 was held in New York City, dozens of pop-up shows bearing its name and message. Last Thursday, Tufts students curated their own Nasty Women exhibition, "NASTY WOMEN x TUFTS," which featured visual and literary works as well as live performances from Tufts students and alumnae. The exhibition was the brainchild of Cecily Lo, a senior, and was put together with the help of seniors Christine Balcer, Isabel Merrin, Liza Leonard, Olivia Scheyer, Oona Taper, Sarah Kotis, Tess Dennison and sophomores Ella Huzenis and Lily Rudin. 

The event was held in an off-campus student house, and the small basement filled up quickly with artists and eager event-goers. Before entering the main exhibit, people were encouraged to write their own messages on a wooden mock-up of the word "NASTY." Many of these messages referred to Donald Trump, but there were also slogans utilized by the LGBTQ, feminist and civil rights movements. The exhibit itself was immersive: each wall was filled with visual art, including a video instillation, embroidery, collages, paintings, graphic design and other mediums.

According to the original Nasty Women exhibition's website, “This is a group exhibition that serves to demonstrate solidarity among artists who identify with being a Nasty Woman in the face of threats to roll back women’s rights, individual rights and abortion rights.” The press release of the Tufts exhibition states, “The power now lies with us — women, the majority — who will say what we shall or shall not do. We refuse to turn our clocks back in time. We must stand together to voice our opposition of these injustices, and only through lifting up all marginalized people can women truly be equal.”

Overall, the message Tufts women sent in the press release was much more comprehensive than that of the initial show. The funds collected through the selling of artwork and donations all went toward Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and Rosie’s Place, organizations that stand in opposition to the Trump administration's proposed polices regarding reproductive rights and civil rights, as well as his stated attitudes toward women.

The "NASTY WOMEN x TUFTS" exhibition is an example of how marginalized groups can come together and demonstrate their values through art. It is inspiring to see people who all attend the same educational institution come together to lift each other up and get each other’s voices heard. The works of "NASTY WOMEN x TUFTS" fall into a larger artistic and  historical tradition of women coming together to challenge sexism in the art world. Collectives such as the Guerrilla Girls, Judy Chicago and more contemporary groups like Go! Push Pops all challenge the notion that art is an all boys club. The show reminds viewers of what it means to be a woman today, of the challenges women face and the anxieties they feel under an administration that seeks to limit their rights.

The '60s performance artist Allan Kaprow spoke about “the gap” that distinguishes the space between that which is neither art nor life. The experience of the show itself, including the people and the discussions held there. achieved the sensation of living in that space, where no one was participating in art but their presence at the show superseded the mundaneness of everyday life. Maybe that is where the effectiveness of art lives: not in the objects on display but in the thoughts and actions that are inspired by a work of art.

What does it mean for a woman to be nasty? For one, she has to be loud, disruptive and bold, but above all else, a woman has to stick up for herself and for her sisters. As the founder of "NASTY WOMEN x TUFTS," Lo said, "Being a nasty woman means actively rejecting the societal expectation that women are to be obedient and docile in a male-dominated world — to fit a certain idealized mold, to be seen and not heard and often treated as second-class citizens with second-class opinions."

Who are the people telling women they’re nasty when they’re just expressing themselves? Those are the same people who will weep while nasty women flourish.