Abstract

This thesis provides an analysis of Montréal-based artist MissMe’s series of wheat-pastes, Vandals (2014 -) in relation to spatial theory, feminist theory, and feminist geography. I argue that through feminist imagery and spatial occupation of sites around Montréal’s Plateau Mont-Royal and Mile End neighbourhoods, MissMe’s Vandals ephemerally transform inherently patriarchal built space and highlight how the gendered body influences one’s experience of the city. Through examples of site-specific urban interventions by feminist artists, the groupe Mauve, Suzanne Lacy and Valie Export, I establish continuity and explore the debt between contemporary feminist street art, and second-wave feminist art that takes place in the city.
Mauve, Lacy, Export instrumentalized the built environment to broadcast feminist messages. Further, they used their female bodies in the built environment to refute the supposed gender neutrality of the city. In this way, these second-wave feminist artists ephemerally transformed their strategically chosen places into feminist spaces.

Continuing the radical exploration established by second-wave feminist artists, MissMe’s Vandals materially occupy locations in Montréal. Through analyzing the visual tactics specific to the Vandal, and considering the socio-spatial specificity of these characters within the Plateau Mont-Royal and Mile End districts, I argue that the Vandal emerges as symbols of resistance within the built environment, temporarily transforming patriarchal place into feminist space.