Yep. Grace Jones Has Still Got It.
Oh, this face, this voice…
Grace Jones, “I’ve Seen That Face Before”
As far as I’m concerned, Grace Jones was the It Girl of the 80s. Her partnerships with Jean-Paul Goude and Keith Haring yielded some of the most iconic, otherworldly images of the decade.
photo by Jean-Paul Goude
She was valorous, donning multiple personas that confronted racial and sexual stereotypes, her “jungle cat” performances lampooning primitivist readings of the black female body in much the same way Josephine Baker‘s send-ups in banana/tusk skirts had half a century earlier. She played a mean accordion, rocked a buzz cut like no other, was witty and elegant, but did not hesitate to smack a bitch when the occasion called for it.
In collaboration with Keith Haring at Paradise Garage in NYC, 1985.
Equally at ease in football-shouldered, ultra-masculine men’s power suits or African Masai-inspired body paint, Jones effortlessly upstaged Ahnold in Conan the Destroyer. She is arguably the hottest (and definitely the fiercest) Bond Girl of all time.
photo by Jean-Paul Goude
I hadn’t kept track of what she’d been up to since 2001 when she starred alongside Tim Curry in a B-movie called Blood Moon/Wolf Girl as a transgender cabaret freakshow performer. Turns out she’s been keeping herself VERY busy, doing runway shows, singing benefits with Pavoratti (RIP), verbally abusing train managers, and, most excitingly, recording a new album called Corporate Cannibal that should be coming out any minute now. Collaborators include Sly and Robbie, Tricky, and Brian Eno.
I can’t wait! Long live the New Wave Amazon Queen.
- “Postcolonialism and androgyny: the performance art of Grace Jones.” Fascinating article by Miriam Kershaw.
- Grace Jones website full of delicious, caprious quotes.
- Jones perfoming “Nightclubbing” and “Pull Up the Bumper” in Philip Treacy designs during Stella McCartney’s runway show for the Prince’s Trust Fashion Rocks 2003.
October 26th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Grace Jones is simply amazing.
Interesting that you posted this now, as her rendition of “Demolition Man” and the images from the video, have been running through my head constantly for a day or so.
October 26th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Grace Jones is one of those women that I love and admire because she knew how to bust stereotypes (gender-based and racial), plus she was a badass. A beautiful badass.
October 26th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
I love that you posted about grace jones. Some trully amazing women emerged during this time period and after.
I’d love to see further articles/blog entries on more of them. I think it’s important for people to be exposed to this quality of existence.
October 26th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Such an incredible beauty. Long live the New Wave Amazon Queen!
October 26th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I remember the impression she made on me as a kid…she wasn’t a thing like any woman I’d seen before. It only got more intense as time went on…a stunning woman on all fronts.
October 27th, 2007 at 12:17 am
She blew my mind in Vamp, back when: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U09CQtMPusA
Collaboration with Tricky? ‘Gasm!
October 27th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Vamp is great!
Collaboration with BRIAN ENO’s what gets me all gooey. Another truly shrine-worthy artist.
E.Black, she really is one of the badassest badasses ever…I highly recommend the Miriam Kershaw article, which really articulates just how far she and the artists she worked with went to destroy thoughtless preconceptions of gender and race. And all pretty much in the mainstream!
In trawling the web for clips to share in this post, I found out she’s been banned from all Disney franchises worldwide for baring her breasts onstage during a concert in Orlando. RAWR.