Difference between revisions of "G. B. Jones"

Latest revision as of 13:07, 7 August 2010

This is about the person. For the book of her art, see G.B. Jones (book).

G.B. Jones is an influential artist, filmmaker, and musician from Toronto.

In 1980 Jones joined her first band, the experimental industrial synth punk group, Bunny & the Lakers. Led by songwriter Peter Morgan and including Howard Pope, the band released one limited edition LP called Numbers, which has since become a collector's item. The trio performed live only once in Toronto.

From the early eighties to the late nineties, she performed with the all-women experimental post punk band Fifth Column, playing drums and guitar and was one of the founders of the group. The band's first album To Sir With Hate, released in 1985, included the song "The Fairview Mall Story" which inspired the queercore movement, as did the fanzine J.D.s, which G.B. founded and co-published with Bruce LaBruce. The first issue of the zine also appeared in 1985, the intitials 'J.D.s' standing for 'Juvenile Delinguents'. J.D.s released a cassette tape entitled J.D.s Top Ten Tape and the two editors held J.D.s movie nights in London, Toronto, Montreal and San Francisco, showing their no budget films made on Super 8.

G.B. Jones has directed, and appears in, a number of underground films. In 1991, she starred in the feature film No Skin Off My Ass by Bruce LaBruce, which has been said by Gus Van Sant to be Kurt Cobain's favourite movie ; her own films have all been made on Super 8. The Troublemakers premiered in 1990 and proved influential although rarely screened. Her best known work from this period is The Yo-Yo Gang, a 30 minute 'exploitation' movie about girl gangs that has gained cult status. The film stars a number of well-known musicians, including Fifth Column members Caroline Azar and Beverly Breckenridge.

Fifth Column went on to release three singles and two more albums: All-Time Queen Of The World and their last, 36-C, containing their best-known and most controversial song "All Women Are Bitches", chosen "Single of the Week" by the UK paper Melody Maker.

She is well known for her appropriation and re-interpretation of the fetish art of Tom of Finland, through her series of 'Tom Girl' drawings. These drawings first came to public attention through the zine J.D.s, which was published from 1985 till 1991. In 1996 a gallery in New York released a book of the drawings, and other artwork, entitled G.B. Jones, with commentaries by Kevin Killian, Dodie Bellamy, Dennis Cooper and others. Although widely available in the U.S. and Europe, copies were seized at the Canadian border and it was officially pronounced banned in Canada.

In 1991, G.B. and a rotating roster of editors, including Jena von Brücker, Rex, Johnny, Caroline Azar and several others released the often contentious zine Double Bill, frequently referred to as an 'anti-zine' or 'hatezine' (as opposed to 'fan'-zine), a new category in the self-publishing world. Five issues were produced, the last one in 2001. During publication the zine was written about in The Village Voice and the editors collectively contributed to the seminal Riot Grrrl fanzine Girl Germs.

In the early 2000s, Jones began turning her attention to other subject matter in her drawings. Her work now explored darker themes: surreal lollipops; ruined buildings; car crashes; and the religious and pagan imagery of the record cover she produced for the Hidden Cameras' EP the arms of his 'ill' . G.B. Jones appears briefly, dressed in black and wielding a knife, at the end of The Hidden Cameras video I Believe In The Good of Life which appeared in 2005.

In 2002, Fifth Column's last release appeared on the Kill Rock Stars compilation album Fields and Streams. In October 2007, the recording Raise Your Paw To The Sky And Break The Truce by the Italian dark ambient group Mariae Nascenti was released on the Final Muzik label, with G.B. Jones appearing as a guest vocalist.

Jones' film The Lollipop Generation, which had been a work-in-progress for 13 years, had its premiere on April 3, 2008 at the Images Festival in Toronto. The film stars Jena von Brucker, Mark Ewert, Jane Danger, Vaginal Davis, Calvin Johnson, Joel Gibb, Jen Smith, and KC Klass.

By 2010, G.B. Jones was working with Minus Smile of Kids On TV on a new musical project called Opera Arcana.

Jones' significant contribution to artists' publications was most recently acknowledged in the book, In Numbers: Serial Publications by Artists Since 1955.

Her work has been printed in a wide variety of media including fanzines, magazines, books, posters, t-shirts, and on record, cassette and CD covers. As well, her drawings have been shown in art galleries and museums throughout Europe, Canada and the United States.

Films[edit]

• The Lollipop Generation, directed by G.B. Jones (2008)
• She's Real, Worse Than Queer, directed by Lucy Thane (1997)
• Cross Your Heart, directed by Suzy Richter (1993)
• The Yo-Yo Gang, directed by G.B. Jones (1992)
• No Skin Off My Ass, directed by Bruce LaBruce (1991)
• The Troublemakers, directed by G.B. Jones (1990)
• Boy, Girl, directed by Bruce LaBruce (1989)
• Fifth Column at the Funnel, directed by John Porter (1985)

Printed Works[edit]

• Cinematic folds: the furling and unfurling of images, edited by Firoza Elavia, Pleasure Dome, 2008, ISBN 9780968211540

• The Book of Boy Trouble 2: Born to Trouble, Robert Kirby and David Kelly, editors, Green Candy Press, 2008 ISBN 978-1931160650

• Juicy Mother 2: How They Met, edited by Jennifer Camper, Manic D Press, 2007 ISBN 978-1-933149-20-2

• The Salivation Army Black Book by Scott Treleaven, Printed Matter Inc./Art Metropole, 2006, ISBN 0-89439-021-X

• Juicy Mother, edited by Jennifer Camper, Soft Skull Press, 2005, ISBN 1-932360-70-0

• Boy Trouble, Robert Kirby and David Kelly, editors, Boy Trouble Books, 2004, ISBN 0-9748855-0-9

• What's Wrong? Explicit Graphic Interpretations Against Censorship, edited by Robin Fisher, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2002, ISBN 1-55152-136-9

• Dangerous Drawings, edited by Andrea Juno, Juno Books, 1997, ISBN 0-9651042-8-1

• G.B. Jones, edited by Steve LaFreniere, Feature Publications, 1996

• Discontents, edited by Dennis Cooper, Amethyst Press, 1992, ISBN 0-927200-10-4

• Double Bill, edited by Caroline Azar, Jena von Brücker, G,B, Jones, Johnny Noxzema, Rex, Issues 1-5, 1991 to 2001

• J.D.s, edited by G.B. Jones and Bruce LaBruce, Issues 1-8, 1985 to 1991

References[edit]

• Spencer, Amy; DIY: The Rise Of Lo-Fi, Marion Boyars Publishers, London, England, 2005 ISBN 0-7145-3105-7

External links[edit]

• G.B. Jones on YouTube
• G.B. Jones at ZineWiki
• Official G.B. Jones My Space
• Opera Arcana Official My Space*
• Article about The Lollipop Generation at Images Festival
• Article about What's Wrong?
• The Yo-Yo Gang at IMDb
• Article about The Troublemakers
• Bunny & the Lakers on WFMU
• "Pink Steam" art exhibition in San Francisco, July 2004 Webcite archive link