In 2012 Doley initiated The Learning Centre: Two Feminists, a project whereby she invited 16 participants from a range of backgrounds to teach her about feminism. Doley then condensed this knowledge from an eclectic range of sources into a series of catch phrases and slogans. This project transforms the live moment between artist and participant into over 90 posters that make up this exhibition.
Utilising the tropes, clichés and didactic nature of the political poster, the slogans are a tongue in cheek barrage of historical facts, mottos and phrases. Grouped together they make up a type of hobbled together archive of feminist thought, predictions and histories. These slogans are made up of the collected thoughts, ideas and facts passed on to Doley through her conversations with the 16 participants. They are contradictory, mixing the cliché with the ambivalent, the old fashioned with the relevant, the important and the silly. The florescent mixed messages and sentiments offer no answers or solutions. But this fits. Contemporary feminism by its very definition is confusing, unfinished, hard to define and temporal.
And for Doley, this is the project’s most interesting quality. The feminisms advocated in these posters promote an intersectional feminist discourse. These ‘political’ posters are part homage to the historical waves of feminism that took to the streets to fight for their rights. However, through repetition Doley hopes to highlight the now anachronistic mode these forms of protest take, suggesting that the political poster now signals the deflated power of collective action within a contemporary setting where a more effective political activism now operates online in dispersed settings.
Deep gratitude and thanks to the 2012 Learning Centre: Two Feminists participants: Anne Marsh, The CoUNTess, Deborah Strutt, Kenny Pittock, Kyla McFarlane, Kate Rigby, Georgie Proud, Clementine Ford, Karen Pickering, Karen Green, Georgia Quinn, Chris Scuito, Terri Bird, Odette Marie Kelada, Beth Muldoon and Jenny Menthol.
Yes & No: Things Learnt About Feminism
New work by Kelly Doley
18 October – 8 November 2014
Opening Saturday 18 October 6pm
Artist conversation Sunday 19 October 2pm
