Art can be so Crass
If you want to know how to create artwork that jars the viewers emotions then check out the offerings that wrap the Crass records. The conflicting imagery of Gee Vaucher not only shocks but makes you think about stuff you wouldn’t normally think about. That’s what hurts me the most.
I took a fresh look at the Feeding the 5,000 Crass album cover and was still struck by the hard edged, mono chrome graphics shot through with her own take on social narrative. In la-de-da art speak ‘the juxtaposed gaiety and horror Gee Vaucher depicts leaves you cold from the insightful social conscious imagery that tears away the thin veneer of acceptability’. Slip that into your art mid-term paper and you may get a silver star from teacher. Way to go guys.
Punk influencing punk
Gee Vaucher’s best known for her work with the anarchist punk band Crass. Her work is intellectual, skillful; at times beautiful and often horrifying. She was the artist behind the 1980’s single cover for the Crass record, Bloody Revolutions. The artwork was inspired by the famous photo of the Sex Pistols. Instead of the Pistols, Vaucher replaces the band members with images of the Queen of England, Pope John Paul II, the Statue of Liberty and Margaret Thatcher.
To my surprise Gee Vaucher’s work isn’t all collage although her finished work closely resembles it. Although it is one of the mediums she uses. Much of her artwork is hand drawn imagery created in pencil and water based gouache paint.
Hand drawn and rendered
I was amazed to discover that the artwork for Bloody Revolution, Feeding of the 5,000 and Stations of the Crass was hand drawn and rendered as opposed to collage.
I have a whole new level of respect for Gee Vaucher’s work… kudos to you Girl! Rumor has it that Gee Vaucher used the same tube of black gouache to creation all of the crass imagery. This is either an urban myth or she had the largest tube of gouache ever made.
Gee Vaucher’s creates instantly recognisable visuals and graphics. Her collages mixed with awesome hand rendering and stencil lettering have deeply influenced both punk and anarchist aesthetics. Contemporary popular stencil art owes much to the likes of Gee Vaucher, with artists like Banksy at the forefront offering up his own particular brand of social commentary and notoriety.
