Gee Vaucher

Gee Vaucher

Gee Vaucher (standing) pictured with Penny Rimbaud, 2002
Born 1945 (age 70–71)
Dagenham, East London

Gee Vaucher is a visual artist who was born in 1945 in Dagenham, East London (although according to The Story of Crass Gee Vaucher is not her real name).

In 1967, inspired by the film Inn of the Sixth Happiness,[1] Vaucher and her lifelong creative partner Penny Rimbaud set up the anarchist/pacifist open house Dial House in Essex, UK, which has now become firmly established as a 'centre for radical creativity'. It was from there during the early seventies that he co-founded the Stonehenge Festival (alongside Phil Russell aka Wally Hope), as documented in his autobiography of 1998, Shibboleth – my revolting life.

Her work with Anarcho-punk band Crass was ovular 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 collage. Vaucher also uses surrealist styles and methods.

In Vaucher's second book, Animal Rites, she gives a commentary on the relationship between animals and humans, centered on the quote "All humans are animal, but some animals are more human than others."

In the foreword to her 1999 retrospective collection 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."

She continues to design sleeves for Babel Label, and also designed the sleeve for The Charlatans (UK band)' Who We Touch album.[2] 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.

Vaucher's film Gower Boy, made in collaboration with pianist Huw Warren, debuted at the 14th Raindance Film Festival in London in October 2006.[3]

In 2016, Vaucher was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex[4]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ There is No Authority But Yourself, dir. Alexander Oey, 2006
  2. ↑ "Charlatans, The - Who We Touch". Discogs. Discogs.com.
  3. ↑ raindance.co.uk: Home
  4. ↑ http://www.essex.ac.uk/news/event.aspx?e_id=10167
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