The New York-based Guerrilla Girls (self-styled "conscience of the art world") use humor, renegade tactics, and the element of surprise to spread their indictment of sexism and racism in both the art world and the culture at large. Oh yes, and they wear scary gorilla masks. Founded in 1985, they have

Angry, Bad girl art, Enigmatic, Feminist, In-your-face, Media art, Political, Rebel, Women's literature

At the heart of Mapplethorpe's photography there is a paradoxical tension between outrageous content and intensely controlled presentation. Mapplethorpe's images are often sufficiently obscene to be considered pornography (even by the artist himself), while his overall aesthetic is chaste, classical,

Classical, Homoerotic, In-your-face, Political, Portrait, Queer art, Repetition, Sexy, Slick

If Postmodernism raises low art to the level of high art, it also allows folks who control the media to cash in on subcultural trends: Rap, grunge, vogueing, whatever. Andy Warhol made a joke of it, but Keith Haring turned the tables. When this Graffiti artist lifted his brush to the walls of subways

Cartoonish, Graffitists and cartoonists, Homoerotic, In-your-face, Kinetic, Playful, Political, Pop, Profane, Queer art

Basquiat emerged from the New York underground when he transferred his simplistic, figural graffiti to canvases full of dark, graphic picture-stories that served as emblems of the under-privileged. While the trend-hungry art world cashed in on Graffiti artists such as Keith Haring and Fab 5 Freddy, B

Agitated, Cartoonish, Deconstructive, Graffitists and cartoonists, Gritty, Grotesque, In-your-face, Manic, Neo-expressionism, Sexy, Urban, Wise assy