In the mid-1980s Grace Jones’s body became the flesh canvas upon which Keith Haring created some of his most striking images. In the process, Haring contributed to Jones’s reputation an innovator of cutting edge style and fashion. She wore Haring’s body paint in the video for her song I’m Not Perfect and in live performance at New York City’s Paradise Garage.

Body painting was a natural extension of the ephemeral nature of Haring’s art. Like subway graffiti and street art, it isn’t intended to last.

I remember the days before Haring became famous, when his “Radiant Baby” graffiti was as ubiquitous on the streets of New York as the smell of urine and the sound of ghetto blasters. For awhile, Haring was New York.

In these photos we see Haring preparing Jones for her role in the 1986 movie Vamp, in which she portrays Katrina the Queen of The Vampires.

The music in this clip from Vamp is by Jonathan Elias who produced Jones’s Bulletproof Heart album.

 

 

 

 
Grace Jones at the Paradise Garage

I Netflixed this funky little movie within the last year or so as it’s one I just didn’t get around to seeing on video when it came out back in the 80’s.  The really funny thing about Jones-as-Vampire Queen was how played-against-type she was in her big scene.  Her character was played up as the mesmerizingly lust-inspiring main event at a sleazy strip club, outclassing all the other acts with her vampiric hotness and sheer animal magnetism.
Then, when she does her act it’s classic Grace Jones club-art: bold, forceful, weird, surreal, crazy, downright wacky even, but not particularly lusty or sexual.  The whole set-up is basically a rationale to shoehorn her typical act into the middle of a horror-comedy.
It’s a pretty hilarious non-sequitur scene when the guys in the joint start playing it like they’re totally aroused by Grace Jones’ surreal, alien freakshow and just *gotta* get with her.  Definitely worth checking out as an example of strange 80’s art/entertainment cross-pollination.

...ha!  Or you could just watch the video embedded right in this post.  I wandered off on a Jones/Haring search-fest and wrote my comment before I consciously registered the video.  Embarrassing.

Stunning. Jones’ and Haring’s visions aligned wonderfully. I moved to NYC a few years too late, dammit.

reminds me of how beautiful the palladium was before nyu tore it down….the walls moving back and expanding to a room and space that is incomprehensible today….unfortunately it seems.