Riot
Artist: Julianna Pijar
Digital Art
December 2022
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
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Pop Culture meets Counter Culture. A bright pink paisley-style background with black and white photos of some of the leading ladies from the Riot Grrrl underground feminist and punk music movement. Pijar uses a font inspired by the popular Supreme clothing brand to share a message: “Who does she think she is?”
This line echoes through high school mean girl circles, judgmental family member clandestine chats, and the minds of everyone who uses she/her pronouns. What makes a woman a woman? What makes you who you are?
The collage presents a possible answer: grrrls are everything. The pink and black clash beautifully, the open mouths scream messages of a movement for change in front of an old-school background, and women surrounded by stereotypical symbols of femininity—sparkly hearts and flower—do something inaccurately designated as stereotypically male—play loud music on heavy electric instruments.
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Julianna Pijar was a member of the Class of 2023, graduating with a B.S. in Neuroscience and a minor in Studio Art. She participated in WZBC and the Gavel.
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“This piece was inspired by zines from the Riot Grrrl movement of the 1990s. I featured my favorite musicians from 90s female punk bands: Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, Alison Wolfe of Bratmobile, and Jennifer Finch from L7. The brash punk attitude of these performers was juxtaposed with the bright floral pink of the background to challenge stereotypical ideas of femininity. I included pieces of work from Barbara Kruger and Roy Lichtenstein, who explore ideas of feminism and female characters in their work.”
Click on the photographs to visit the bands’ Spotify accounts.
To learn more about the Riot Grrrl movement, view original Zines and supportive artwork held by the McMullen Museum of Art:
Article by: Sindey Amar