Kate Just, A Sign of the Times: A knitted translation of Guerilla Girls, First They Want to Take Away a Woman’s Right to Choose, Now They’re Censoring Art, 1991, 48th St, NY (2026)
Hand knitted acrylic yarn, timber, canvas
60 x 81 x 2.5cm

This knitted homage pays respect to a 1991 citywide billboard project by the Guerrilla Girls as part of the Public Art Fund’s PSA: Public Service Art exhibition series.

The Guerrilla Girls installed 10 of these billboards across Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan in 1991 to alert the public to the (then-current) threat of censorship and a woman’s right to choose.

The billboard depicts Mona Lisa, from Leonardo DaVinci’s renowned portrait, with a fig leaf covering her mouth. The image accompanies a message that reads: “First they want to take away a woman’s right to choose. Now they’re censoring art.” The slogan alluded to controversies of the time involving the National Endowment for the Arts, and chair John Frohnmayer’s decision to veto funding for performance artists Karen Finley, John Fleck, Holly Hughes and Tim Miller (later known as the “NEA Four”).

Thirty-four years later, this is still well and truly a sign of the times. Roe v Wade has been overturned in the US, and far-right governments are on the rise around the globe, infringing on human rights, including reproductive rights.

The censorship of art and literature is also widespread, from the initial removal of Khaled Sabsabi from the Venice Biennale, to the cancellation of the major retrospective by Samia Halaby at the Indiana Art Museum, to censorship and alteration of Kuwaiti-Puerto Rican artist Alia Farid’s work at Michigan State University Broad Art Museum.

Reproductive rights and the censorship of art still go hand in hand.