Gee Vaucher

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Gee Vaucher
Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher photographed by Graham Burnett, 2002
Born1945 (age 78–79)
Dagenham, Essex, England
NationalityEnglish
MovementAnarchism and protest-art

Gee Vaucher (born 1945 in Dagenham, Essex, England[1]) is a visual artist primarily associated with the anarcho-punk band Crass.

Biography

Vaucher met her long-lasting creative partner Penny Rimbaud in the early 1960s when both were attending the South-East Essex Technical College and School of Art.[1] In 1967, inspired by the film Inn of the Sixth Happiness,[2] they set up the anarchist/pacifist open house Dial House in Essex, UK, which has now become firmly established as a 'centre for radical creativity'.

In 2016, Vaucher was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.[3]

Vaucher is vegetarian.[4]

Works

Her work with anarcho-punk band Crass was seminal to the 'protest art' of the 1980s. Vaucher has always seen her work as a tool for social change, and has expressed her strong anarcho-pacifist and feminist views in her paintings and collages.[1] Vaucher also uses surrealist styles and methods.

She continues to design sleeves for Babel Label, and also designed the sleeve for The Charlatans' Who We Touch album.[5] Vaucher has exhibited at the 96 Gillespie gallery in London. In 2007 and 2008 the Jack Hanley Gallery in San Francisco and Track 16 in Santa Monica ran exhibitions entitled "Gee Vaucher: Introspective", showing a wide selection of Vaucher's work.

The day after Donald Trump's election victory in November 2016, the British Daily Mirror newspaper featured Vaucher's 1989 painting Oh America on its front page.[6][7]

Published collections

In the foreword to her first book, a 1999 retrospective collection entitled Crass Art and Other Pre Post-Modernist Monsters, Ian Dury writes:

"In its original form, Gee's work is intricate and tactile, and while the imagery is sometimes almost overwhelming, the primary concerns are those of a painter; dealing with form and space. Mere newsprint would hardly do justice to its subtle tones. When the work is printed, the space becomes more simple and the graphic images take on a different life. The concerns are those of delivery, and the message is clear."

In her second book, Animal Rites: a pictorial study of relationships, she gives a commentary on the relationship between animals and humans, centered on the quote "All humans are animals, but some animals are more human than others."

Film

Vaucher's film Gower Boy, made in collaboration with pianist Huw Warren, debuted at the 14th Raindance Film Festival in London in October 2006.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Berger, George (2006). The Story of Crass. Omnibus Press.
  2. ^ There is No Authority But Yourself, dir. Alexander Oey, 2006
  3. ^ "University of Essex :: Latest news :: Honorary Graduands announced". Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  4. ^ Capper, Andy (1 March 2017). "Anarchy and Peace with Penny Rimbaud of Crass" (video and text). Noisey. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Charlatans, The - Who We Touch". Discogs. Discogs.com. 6 September 2010.
  6. ^ Daly, Rhian (10 November 2016). "The Daily Mirror's Trump Front Page Has Strong Punk Roots". NME. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  7. ^ Allen, Gavin (10 November 2016). "Gee Vaucher's artwork 'Oh America' and the story behind the Daily Mirror's historic US election front page". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Gower Boy". Fourteenth Raindance Film Festival. Raindance. 1 October 2006. Archived from the original on 14 November 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Bibliography

  • Crass Art and Other Pre Post-Modernist Monsters - A collection of work by Gee Vaucher (AK Press 1999)
  • Animal Rites: a pictorial study of relationships (Exitstencil Books, 2004)
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