Vaginal Davis

Vaginal Davis

Vaginal Davis as "Bricktop" in 2004.
Background information
Also known as Dr. Vaginal Davis, Vaginal Creme Davis, Mistress Veronika V'intrest, The Walking Installation Piece, Graciela, Miss Bricktops
Origin Los Angeles, California
Genres Punk rock, experimental, queercore, performance art
Occupation(s) musician, zinester, hostess, gossip columnist, author, performance artist, experimental filmmaker
Years active 80s – present
Labels Amoeba Records & Filmworks
Spectra Sonic Records
Mr. Lady
Chongo Records
Dischord Records
Website vaginaldavis.com

Vaginal Davis is an American intersex-born, genderqueer performing artist, painter, independent curator, composer, and writer.[1] Davis' name is a homage to activist Angela Davis. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Davis became well known in the 1980s in New York City.[2] She currently resides in Berlin.[3]

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.[4][5] The Afro Sisters opened for the Smiths on their first American tour, as well as the Happy Mondays.[6]

Vaginal Davis is often associated with the formation of the Queercore zine movement.[7] From 1982 to 1991, she self-published the zine Fertile La Toyah Jackson.[8] 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."[9] Davis' job at UCLA's Placement & Career Planning Center allowed her free access to a Xerox machine to publish the zine.[10]

1989–1999: Bands

In 1989, Davis formed the band Pedro, Muriel, and Esther (PME) with Glen Meadmore.[11] Davis had previously sung backup vocals for Meadmore along with RuPaul. PME disbanded after releasing a four-song EP on Amoeba records.[12][13]

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.[7] The band's 1995 album 11 Harrow House was produced by Hansen's son Beck.[4]

In 1995, Pedro, Muriel, and Esther reformed to perform at the Queercore '95 festival in Chicago.[13] The band later released their first full-length album The White to Be Angry, produced by Steve Albini in 1998 on Spectra Sonic Records.[4]

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.[9] She 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.[11]

2010–present: Performance and visual art

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.[14][15] Carmelita Tropicana and Jennifer Miller were co-hostesses for Davis' show.[16]

In January 2012 Davis participated in the J. Paul Getty's "Pacific Standard Time Performance Festival, with "My Pussy Is Still in Los Angeles (I Only Live in Berlin)"[17] at Southwestern Law School, Louis XVI-style Tea Room (originally Bullocks Wilshire Department Store). 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.".[18] In August 2012 the band was invited by curator Anthony Hegarty to perform at this year's Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre in London with Kembra Pfahler and the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. After the performances Tenderloin released the music video for "The Golden One" that featured drag queen the Goddess Bunny and was directed by Glen Meadmore.[19]

From November 9 to December 16, 2012, Davis opened her 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 on the gallery that Davis hosted in her Los Angeles apartment from 1982–89.[20][21]

Artistry

José Esteban Muñoz has identified Davis as a progenitor of "terrorist drag," for Davis was neither "glamour" like New York performers Candis Cayne and Girlina, nor "clown" (camp) like drag queens 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."[22] 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.[23]

Discography

The Afro Sisters

Black Fag

¡Cholita! The Female Menudo

Pedro, Muriel & Esther

Solo

Other appearances

Title Year Album
"Well, Well, Well" (Le Tigre featuring Vaginal Davis) 2004 Feminist Sweepstakes (2004 re-issue)[24]
"I Could Have Sex" (Technova featuring Vaginal Davis) Electrosexual[25]
"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[26]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Designy Living
1994 Three Faces of Women Director- Rick Castro
1995 Super 8½
1995 Live Nude Girls Pool Man
1996 Hustler White Buster Boote
1998 Hallelujah! Ron Athey: A Story of Deliverance Herself
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 Herself
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 Herself
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 August 11, 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. ↑
  3. ↑
  4. 1 2 3 "Vaginal Davis Dot Com: Discography". VaginalDavis.com. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ Sanchez, John (May 15, 1997). "In Performance: Vaginal Davis unplugged". Chicago Reader. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  6. ↑ LaBruce, Bruce. "Vaginal Davis". BUTT. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Cooper, Dennis (July 1994). SPIN. Spin. pp. 16–. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Vaginal Davis Dot Com: Zineography". VaginalDavis.com. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  9. 1 2 Trebay, Guy (May 23, 2004). "Ready to Fade into Obscurity. Wait, He's Already There". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  10. ↑ Maher, Karen (October 2011). "Mono. Issue No. 6 – October 2011: Page 2". Mono. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  11. 1 2 "Advanced Capitalism Reunion: Reparations And Retardations" (Press release). Participant Inc. November 16, 2009. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
  12. ↑ "Pedro, Muriel & Esther – PME / EP (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  13. 1 2 Kot, Greg (September 1, 1995). "What a Drag". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Vaginal Davis Is Speaking from the Diaphragm". Time Out. March 15, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  15. ↑ H, Erika (April 29, 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 March 12, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Vaginal Davis". Studio Museum in Harlem. July 6, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  17. ↑ My Pussy Is Still in Los Angeles (I Only Live in Berlin) - was produced by West of Rome Public Art for Pacific Standard Time, and curated by Emi Fontana
  18. ↑ "Camp/Anti-Camp sets up in Berlin". Expatriarch. April 12, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  19. ↑ "The Goddess Bunny und Tenderloin". YouTube. November 29, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  20. ↑ Donnelly, Ryann (November 26, 2012). "The Teachings of Vaginal Davis". Art in America. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  21. ↑ Rao, Mallika (November 7, 2012). "Vaginal Davis' 'HAG' Exhibit: Cult Artist Gets Major Solo Show At Participant Inc (SLIDESHOW)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  22. ↑ José Esteban Muñoz (2003). The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader. Psychology Press. pp. 217–224. ISBN 978-0-415-26706-9. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Vaginal Davis' Biography". VaginalDavis.com. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  24. ↑ "Le Tigre – Feminist Sweepstakes (Vinyl, LP, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Technova – Electrosexual (CD, Album)". Discogs. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  26. ↑ Pelly, Jenn (December 28, 2012). "Listen: Kathleen Hanna's Band the Julie Ruin Share First New Track: "Girls Like Us"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 11, 2013.

Sources

External links

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