On the occasion of a solo show at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas in 2016, Mai-Thu Perret presented a new body of work entitled Les Guérillères. This series consisted in a female group composed of stylized figures with readily-identifiable accessories (combat fatigues, military boots, machine guns). The title of the figures is borrowed from a 1969 novel by Monique Wittig that tells the speculative story of a war waged by women to take control of society. Its militant protagonists find echoes in Perret’s sculptures, which are also informed by the YPJ, a real-world female militia that has been fighting in the ongoing Syrian civil war. For JRP, Mai-Thu Perret has chosen to isolate the most important accessory worn by these “Guérillères” sculptures; the Kalashnikov gun, to turn the object into a special limited edition. The weapon appears as a true symbol of feminist struggle and resistance and explores by its material the strength and fragility through the use of pink polyester resin for the weapon.
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