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Naked billboard that shocked the establishment – blazed a trail in the art world

It's been 40 years since the controversial activist group Guerrilla Girls formed. Their most powerful campaign, the "naked poster", broke new ground – and has had a lasting influence.

"The idea always was to find that kernel that was unforgettable," one of the founding members of the Guerrilla Girls, who uses the alias Käthe Kollwitz, tells the BBC at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, ahead of an exhibition that celebrates 40 years of their work. and These Galleries Show No More Than 10% Women Artists or None at All – were plastered on walls, street lamps and telephone booths in New York, with no need for permission from the decisions of those who ran the powerful art institutions. While the poster protest was originally critiquing who was allowed to hang on the walls of museums and galleries, this focus has evolved for the Guerrilla Girls as well as for other artist activists, who are now scrutinising how funding is secured and where donors earn their money.

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