GEE VAUCHER (APPROPRIATION)

Experimenting with appropriation I was interested to see that a Gee Vaucher introspective was opening at First Site in Colchester so went along to look at her work some of which used this. I first became aware of her work through it being used for album cover artwork for Tackhead's (1990) album "Friendly as a hand grenade".  The image is a good representation of the political nature of a lot of her work which she used to communicate her own ideologies both locally and also on global issues. Unlike a lot of her work though it does not contain the familiar collage style.

Vaucher's work covered a multitude of disciplines but the areas that most interested me was her use of appropriation to communicate her ideals, philosophies and political agenda. She started work in fanzines with a satirical look at the issues that she saw around her in everyday life and these themes stayed with her throughout her career. These ranged from sexual politics to globalization and the environment to political hypocrisy. She started out as an illustrator and cartoonist but when she found this process too time consuming moved towards a more montage approach using images alongside her own illustrations to make her work and her point.

Whilst I found the majority of the exhibition really exciting and interesting these were the works I found most useful to help me better explore the notion of appropriation. Also to look for inspiration, ideas and styles that I may be able to incorporate into my own work.

A lot of the work that most interested me was her visual work with CRASS the punk band. With a strong political agenda and anti right wing politics it combines her intricate hand drawn work with and appropriated imagery. It also has a playful sense of fun unless you were on the wrong end of her work that is and Maggie thatcher was a popular target. Her work follows in the vein Peter Blake and his people collages and Jamie Reid and his punk aesthetic by quite often being an amalgamation of the two.

Whilst stylistically her work is not of a huge amount of use to me, some of her more graphical album artwork is certainly interesting and food for thought. Her use of multiple image images re-purposed (or appropriated) to communicate a message certainly is. Looking to the future and documentary work her work does set itself up well to be turned into Terry Gilliam cut out animations as some of it is practically freeze frame versions of this.




Also I was interested to discover that she did a lot of work with Crass on their music videos and on stage visuals that followed in a similar thread to her artwork. Often filmed directly from the TV the juxtapositions of images once again create a strong message of consumerism, dictatorship and right wing politics and war.

Below is the catalogue notes on the exhibition.

Introspective is Gee Vaucher’s first major institutional show in the UK, and spans the artist’s career of more than forty years. It charts Vaucher’s journey from local activity to international ambition, from domestic concerns to world politics, and from healing the planet to healing the mind. Including collage, photography, photomontage, painting, sculpture, film, performance, typography, sound and installation, the imagery she creates ranges from the absurd and often comical to the harrowing. Her message spans the political and the personal, the environmental and the humanitarian.

 Originating from the counterculture of the 1960s’, the importance of Vaucher’s work within the historical context of collage and photomontage practices as critique of the status quo is undeniable. However it is yet to be fully recognised by the mainstream. This exhibition redresses this imbalance, and where better than in Essex where Vaucher has spent most of her life.

Known primarily for her work with anarcho-pacifist punk band Crass (1977-1984), Vaucher is a cult figure who commands a great deal of respect for her political activism, alternative way of life, and skill as an artist. Introspective presents never-before seen footage of early 1960s’ performances in Colchester with avant-garde group EXIT, which would go on to form Crass. As well as brand new photographic and sound pieces that reflect on the changing city-scape of New York, where she spent formative years in the late 1970’s working as a political illustrator for publications like The New York Times and New York Magazine.

The exhibition reveals original material that would become the iconic record covers of the 1980’s, and political posters which have influenced countless activist artists. From the political assault on the masses to the psychological assault on the individual, recent paintings and drawings emulate the dismembering and disfiguring technique of collage resulting in grotesque bodies and faceless individuals. Part-dog, part-baby sculptures laugh back at us in-amongst other works dedicated to animal rights.

As well as rare and radical material from the artist’s archive, the exhibition focuses on a particular series of works and shows them in their most complete configuration to-date. Including her series of paintings Children (who have seen too much too soon). Complementing Vaucher’s work are a selection of original books and prints by Max Ernst from his series Une semaine de bonté. Both contextualisation the artist’s practice in the history of collage but crucially illustrating Ernst’s influence on Vaucher’s working method and its resulting form: the artist book.

Throughout her career, the book and its rudimentary template, the ‘zine’, have been defining formats for the outcomes of Vaucher’s various projects, providing her with the autonomy and control to produce and disseminate work through her own channels and on her own terms. From the DIY circulation of ‘International Anthem’ (1977 – 1983) to the most recent ‘A Week of Knots’ (2013 –) published through Vaucher’s own Exitstencil Press.