continued from page 15 have been seriously affected, ranking just 88 out of 100 as a whole in the past three years, according to Wine Spectator magazine. But what the aforemen- tioned conditions have been prime for have been merlot, cabernet, chardon- nay, and the very underrated sauvignon blanc. _~ The difficulty of producing pinot noir places its price at less than afford- able. And I do not believe that many pinot noirs from California are worth the expense. California, I believe, is too hot to produce a fine pinot noir, unless you get the cool morning breezes blowing off the ocean to chill the grapes before the heat sets in. Location is everything. Oregon is much more inviting when it comes to pinot. With hundreds of miles of coastline, and a slightly cooler climate, pinot noir excels there to a higher capa- bility than even most Burgundies (comprised primarily of pinot noir). If you are interested in trying another fine pinot noir (for a decent price), try one from New Zealand, as it has a compa- rable climate to Oregon. However, trying any other red from New Zealand or Oregon would be playing with fire, as the climates produce very thin mer- lots and cabernets. It is important to know that you have to pay a premium for good pinot noir. You may wish to try the following affordable Pinots, including some decent Californians: Reine Pedauque Bourgogne Reserve pinot noir (France), Fleur de Carneros pinot (California), Sterling pinot noir “Winery Lake” (California), and Saint Clair Estate pinot noir “Doctor’s Creek” (New Zealand). Whatever you do, don’t buy a pinot from a known hot climate, especially Australia, because it is manipulated so much that it has the body of a dense cabernet sauvignon at times. noir 5 | | él i i Ball-Busting Dead White Guys Hold on Art Guerrilla Girls have long history of fighting for change in art world Luisa Santos, The Link (Concordia University) MONTREAL (CUP)—The art world has never been easy to penetrate. Countless barriers prevent many from ascending to a position of fame, glory, and wealth. These barriers prove even more insurmountable if the artist does not have a penis. Considering that entry into the exclusive art realm of museums, galleries, festivals, and art-history textbooks is contingent on the presence of male genitalia, female exclusion seems like a natural course of action. Not so, say the Guerrilla Girls, a group of militant female artists who identify themselves as the “conscience of culture.” Founded in 1985, the organization has spent the last 20 years reconstructing the concept of feminism in and outside of art. They were forced into existence when the Museum of Modern Art in New York christened a show that had a mere 13 Graphic by Mrcedes La Rosa / The Link female artists out of a grand total of 169, “an International Survey of Painting and Sculpture.” Outraged, they picketed the museum. Since then, they have been researching, protesting, campaigning, and letter writing towards gender equality in the fine arts. Basically, they've been shit disturbing. According to their book, Confessions of the Guerrilla Girls, their name is an ode to the guerrilla-like tactics employed during warfare and, coincidentally, describes their own aggressive approach to instigating change in the art world. On a more literal level, to maintain anonymity, they also sport gorilla masks when waging these cultural battles. The “girl” quotient is their attempt to re-appropriate the somewhat derogatory elements of the word—one that entails a certain kind of incomplete- ness when used in reference to a grown woman—to a more positive, less counter- productive word. Since these modest beginnings, the Guerrilla Girls have gained fame by exposing the art world’s internal politics. During the 80s, posters and signs flooded NYC, each one containing statistics that detailed the continued marginalization of women within the art community. It was discovered that some of the most influen- tial gallery and museum exhibitions were guilty of consistently excluding women. According to the Guerrilla Girls’ website, when asked about these numbers, those responsible for exhibition content catego- tized it as an issue of quality and not deliberate discrimination. During a 1979 interview, renowned art historian H.W. Janson defended his con- tinual canonization of male artists. In direct response to a question asking about the exclusion of artists like Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, and Kathe Kollwitz from his textbook History of Art, Janson said, “They are all important artists, but they are not quite important enough to go into a one-volume history of art.” Sentiments like these, by the author of such an influ- ential text in art scholarship, are what prompted the Guerrilla Girls into action. To date, the Guerrilla Girls have com- pleted over campaigns, lambasting everyone from gallery owners, academics, and other art professionals to the US government and the entertainment industry. In addition to Confessions, they have written three books: The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art (1998); Bitches, Bimbos and Ball Breakers (2003) and The Guerrilla Girls’ Art Museum Activity Book (2004). They contin- ue travelling the world, giving lectures and holding events on the rhetoric of femi- nism in the arts. All this in an attempt to break the monopoly of dead white guys. 100 poster Extra, Extra! New Age Editor to Join OP! Amanda Aikman, Managing Editor Well, it’s finally happened. My tenure as interim A&E editor has ended. I’ve been replaced. I know, I know, you’re saying to your- self, “But Self, how could they ever replace Amanda Aikman? She’s so great. And smart. And witty. And beautiful. 16 | www.theotherpress.ca And....” Oh stop. You know it embar- rasses me when you go on like that. It’s cool, don’t worry about me—TI'll still be around as Managing Editor till the end of the summer. And I’m only an email away if you’re ever really desperate for an “Amanda” fix. Besides, let’s be honest with each other—things haven’t really been the same between us lately, have they? No, it’s true. You don’t have to humour me—I know you’ve just been killing time until someone better came along. And now someone has. Someone with big ideas and a heart of gold. Someone with moxy, and chutzpah, and a real can-do attitude. Someone named Iain Reeve. You know Iain, he’s that leftie from the Opinions section. Turns out, unlike most of us here at the Other Press, Iain’s no one-trick pony. In addition to his polit- ical opinions, he’s also interested in music, and theatre, and film, and all that other A&E-type stuff. Who knew? Well, per- haps I would have if I ever bothered getting to know the contributors around here. I won’t make that mistake again. The next time I’m heckling one of our writers for their laughable misuse of commas, or berating them for putting the wrong flavour syrup in my coffee, I’m going to take a moment out to really connect with them. In the meantime, ladies and gentle- men, please put your hands together to help me welcome the Other Press’s newest Arts & Entertainment editor— Iain Reeve! Well, okay, he’s not actually here right now, but next week he will be. Thanks for reading my words, and I know you’re going to enjoy reading Iain’s. —Amanda Aikman, Managing Editor (and former Interim A&E Editor) March 23/2005