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Vaginal Davis

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Vaginal Davis
Vaginal Davis as "Bricktop" in 2004.
Vaginal Davis as "Bricktop" in 2004.
Background information
Also known asDr. Vaginal Davis, Vaginal Creme Davis, Mistress Veronika V'intrest, The Walking Installation Piece, Graciela, Miss Bricktops
OriginLos Angeles
GenresPunk rock, experimental, queercore, performance art
Occupation(s)musician, zinester, hostess, gossip columnist, author, performance artist, experimental filmmaker
Years active80s – 2002
LabelsAmoeba Records & Filmworks
Spectra Sonic Records
Mr. Lady
Chongo Records
Dischord Records
Websitevaginaldavis.com

Vaginal Davis is an American genderqueer performing artist, painter, independent curator, composer, and writer.[1] Davis' name is a homage to activist Angela Davis.

Life and career

1970–1989: Career beginnings

Vaginal Davis' band the Afro Sisters released their first seven-inch EP Indigo, Sassafras & Molasses, produced by Geza X, on Amoeba Records in 1978.[2][3] The Afro Sisters opened for the Smiths on their first American tour, and the Happy Mondays.[4]

Vaginal Davis is often associated with the formation of the Queercore zine movement.[5] From 1982 to 1991, he self-published the zine Fertile La Toyah Jackson.[6] Bruce LaBruce described the zine as "an underground rag that featured SoCal punk scene gossip, photos of hot Huntington Beach surfers and wistful musings by Miss Davis herself."[7] Davis' job at UCLA's Placement & Career Planning Center allowed him free access to a Xerox machine to publish the zine.[8]

1989–1999: Bands

In 1989, Davis formed the band Pedro, Muriel, and Esther (PME) with Glen Meadmore.[9] Davis had previously sang backup vocals for Meadmore along with RuPaul. PME disbanded after releasing a four-song EP on Amoeba records.[10][11]

Davis formed the band Black Fag in 1992 with Bibbe Hansen. Black Fag's album Passover Satyr was released on Dischord Records that same year and was produced by Kim Gordon.[5] The band's 1995 album 11 Harrow House was produced by Hansen's son Beck.[2]

In 1995, Pedro, Muriel, and Esther reformed to perform at the Queercore '95 festival in Chicago.[11] The band later released their first full-length album The White to Be Angry, produced by Steve Albini in 1998 on Spectra Sonic Records.[2]

2000–2009: Move to Germany

In Los Angeles, Davis is also known for hosting and DJing a range of performance and music events. One of the most prominent was "Bricktops" (2002–2005), a weekly salon/speak-easy inspired by vaudevillian Ada "Bricktop" Smith.[7] He also hosted and DJed a Sunday afternoon music event called "Sucker" (1994–2000). Davis and artist Ron Athey curated and hosted GIMP (2000–2001), a monthly night of performance art.

In 2007, Vaginal Davis moved from Los Angeles to Berlin, Germany.

In 2009, Pedro, Muriel and Esther reunited in a 20th-anniversary show presented in New York City by Participant Inc. as part of Performa 09.[9]

2010–present: Continued success

Davis' performance piece "Speaking from the Diaphragm" ran from May 15 to 27, 2010, at Performance Space 122. The show parodied television talk shows and featured interviews by Carole Pope, Jamie Stewart, Joel Gibb, and Glen Meadmore.[12][13] Carmelita Tropicana and Jennifer Miller were co-hostesses for Davis' show.[14]

In April 2012, Davis debuted live her band Tenderloin as part of the festival "Camp/Anti-Camp: A Queer Guide to Everyday Life" at Hebbel am Ufer. Tenderloin's line-up consisted of Felix Knoke, Jan Klesse, Joel Gibb, and Vaginal Davis performing under the alias "Dagmar Hofpfisterei."[15] Before performing, Tenderloin had previously released the music video for "The Golden One" that featured drag queen the Goddess Bunny and was directed by Glen Meadmore.[16]

From November 9 to December 16, 2012, Davis opened his first major solo exhibition of solely visual art (as opposed to performance art), titled "HAG - small, contemporary, haggard" at the Participant Inc. in New York. The name of the show was based off of the gallery that Davis hosted in his Los Angeles apartment from 1982-89.[17][18]

Artistry

José Esteban Muñoz has identified Davis as a progenitor of "terrorist drag," for Davis was neither "glamour" like New York drag queens Candis Cayne and Girlina, nor "clown" (camp) like Varla Jean Merman and Lady Bunny. According to Davis, "I wasn't really trying to alter myself to look like a real woman. I didn't wear false eyelashes or fake breasts. It wasn't about the real-ness of traditional drag - the perfect flawless makeup. I just put on a little lipstick, a little eyeshadow and a wig and went there."[19] Dominic Johnson of frieze said, "Ms Davis consistently refuses to ease conservative tactics within gay and black politics, employing punk music, invented biography, insults, self-mockery, and repeated incitements to group sexual revolt." Davis critiques the co-opting of African, Hispanic, and LGBT culture by the mainstream.[20]

Discography

The Afro Sisters

  • Indigo, Sassafras & Molasses (1978)
  • Maxis on Melrose (1980)
  • So Black I'm Blue (1981)
  • Too Black, Too Strong (1982)
  • Shoulder Pads, Maxi Pads (1983)
  • Magnificent Product (1984)
  • Armed & Extremely Dangerous (1985)
  • Wet Lesbian (1986)

Black Fag

  • Parerga y Paralipomena (1992)
  • Atlas Shrugged (1993)
  • Passover Satyr (1994)
  • 11 Harrow House (1995)

¡Cholita! The Female Menudo

  • ¡No Controles! (1987)
  • Chicas De Hoy (1989)
  • ¡Cholita! (1996)

Pedro, Muriel & Esther

  • PME (1991)
  • The White to Be Angry (1998)

Solo

  • Small Whyte House (Vaginal Davis and Robespierre) (1994)

Other appearances

Title Year Album
"Well, Well, Well" (Le Tigre featuring Vaginal Davis) 2004 Feminist Sweepstakes (2004 re-issue)[21]
"I Could Have Sex" (Technova featuring Vaginal Davis) Electrosexual[22]
"Mama's Not Dead" (Technova featuring Vaginal Davis)
"My Pussy is a Cactus" (Technova featuring Vaginal Davis)
"Mangina" (Technova featuring Vaginal Davis)
"Bitterest Pill" (Technova featuring Vaginal Davis)
"Girls Like Us" (The Julie Ruin featuring Vaginal Davis) 2012 Non-album single[23]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Designy Living
1994 Three Faces Of Women Director
1995 Super 8½
1995 Live Nude Girls Pool Man
1996 Hustler White Buster Boote
1998 Hallelujah! Ron Athey: A Story of Deliverance Himself
1999 The White To Be Angry Director; short film
1999 Can I Be Your Bratwurst, Please? Director; short film
2001 The Other Newest One Director; short film
2001 Le Petite Tonkinoise Director; short film
2001 Fra unter Einfluss Director; short film
2005 Beyond Lovely Bruce B. Short film
2006 The Pikme-Up Himself
2008 The Lollipop Generation Beulah Blacktress
2010 The Dream of Norma Norma Short film
2010 The Bad Breast; or, The Strange Case of Theda Strange Short film
2011 The Advocate for Fagdom Himself
2012 Rosas Welt - 70 neue Filme von Rosa von Praunheim Marta Feuchtwanger

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Tales of the City Endup Emcee
2001 Gideon's Crossing Eddie Episode 9: "Is There a Wise Man in the House?"

Footnotes

  1. ^ Perlson, Hili. "Vaginal Davis speaks". Sleek magazine. Retrieved 11 August 2012. I'm intersex, born with both female and male genitalia, so I'm a strange hybrid creature. I'm also part German, quarter Jewish, my father was born in Mexico and my mother is French Creole.
  2. ^ a b c "Vaginal Davis Dot Com: Discography". VaginalDavis.com. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  3. ^ Sanchez, John (15 May 1997). "In Performance: Vaginal Davis unplugged". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  4. ^ LaBruce, Bruce. "Vaginal Davis". BUTT. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  5. ^ a b Cooper, Dennis (July 1994). SPIN. pp. 16–. ISSN 08863032 Parameter error in {{issn}}: Invalid ISSN.. Retrieved 11 March 2013. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  6. ^ "Vaginal Davis Dot Com: Zineography". VaginalDavis.com. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  7. ^ a b Trebay, Guy (23 May 2004). "Ready to Fade Into Obscurity. Wait, He's Already There". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  8. ^ Maher, Karen (October 2011). "Mono. Issue #6 - October 2011: Page 2". Mono. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Advanced Capitalism Reunion: Reparations And Retardations" (Press release). Participant Inc. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  10. ^ "Pedro, Muriel & Esther – PME / EP (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  11. ^ a b Kot, Greg (1 September 1995). "What a Drag". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  12. ^ "Vaginal Davis Is Speaking from the Diaphragm". Time Out. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  13. ^ H, Erika (29 April 2010). "Jamie Stewart guest stars in performance piece by Vaginal Davis; Xiu Xiu tour, make antiquated entreaty for a lock of your hair". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  14. ^ "Vaginal Davis". Studio Museum in Harlem. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  15. ^ "Camp/Anti-Camp sets up in Berlin". Expatriarch. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  16. ^ "The Goddess Bunny und Tenderloin". YouTube. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  17. ^ Donnelly, Ryann (26 November 2012). "The Teachings of Vaginal Davis". Art in America. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  18. ^ Rao, Mallika (7 November 2012). "Vaginal Davis' 'HAG' Exhibit: Cult Artist Gets Major Solo Show At Participant Inc (SLIDESHOW)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  19. ^ José Esteban Muñoz (2003). The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader. Psychology Press. pp. 217–224. ISBN 978-0-415-26706-9. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  20. ^ "Vaginal Davis' Biography". VaginalDavis.com. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  21. ^ "Le Tigre – Feminist Sweepstakes (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  22. ^ "Technova – Electrosexual (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  23. ^ Pelly, Jenn (28 December 2012). "Listen: Kathleen Hanna's Band the Julie Ruin Share First New Track: "Girls Like Us"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 11 March 2013.

Sources

  • José Muñoz, Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999) ISBN 0-8166-3015-1
  • Jennifer Doyle, Sex Objects: Art and the Dialectics of Desire (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006). ISBN 0-8166-4526-4

External links

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