In 1988, Tania Ferrier, a young Australian artist, was living in New York, working nights as a bartender in a strip club. After witnessing the sexual assault of a friend and dancer at a club, Ferrier created the ‘underwear that bites back’.
Responding not with silence, but with paint, Ferrier began creating lingerie emblazoned with snarling animal faces for the dancers to wear. Dubbed Angry Underwear, these hand-painted pieces were both a form of protection and protest, becoming a bold feminist commentary on a woman’s right to protect her own body.
What began as a personal act of solidarity soon grew into a cultural phenomenon. Media stories spread the word, and Ferrier’s pieces caught the attention of celebrities like Madonna and Naomi Campbell. Exhibited in Manhattan and later in Perth, Angry Underwear blurred the boundaries between art, activism, and fashion long before those conversations became mainstream.
In 2021, her work was featured in the National Gallery of Australia’s Know My Name exhibition, celebrating women artists who changed the narrative of Australian art. Today, Ferrier’s practice continues to evolve. In 2024, as part of its regional tour, Ferrier collaborated with creative sewist Dana Stoll to create accompanying accessories that further enhance the iconic works, which continue to roar with relevance over three decades after its conception.
At its core, Angry Underwear is about resistance and reclaiming agency through creativity.
This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on how art can both protect and provoke, and how even something as intimate as underwear can become a weapon of change.
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