Northern Art Carbooty 2018 - The Tattooed Lady Returns!

The Tattooed Lady is an end of the pier 1900's style temporary tattoo dispenser I created three years ago for the launch exhibition at HOME in Manchester. She is an interactive art work with flashing bulbs and a friendly 'ding!' that offers audiences the chance to take a piece of art home with them, either as a keepsake for posterity or as some temporary 'ink' to wear proudly on their skin.

I am now bringing The Tattooed Lady to the Northern Art Carbooty next month for a new commissioned piece. August 26th will see me and the Lady at Saddlers Yard and PLANT NOMA in Manchester:

'The event is an extravaganza of art, craft, live performance, workshop activity, food and music. Northern Art Carbooty works with artists and designers to encourage new artistic collaborations with the communities located around the event'

For this new work I am concentrating on 100 years since women got the right to vote in the UK and I have been designing a special tattoo to celebrate not only this landmark event but also Manchester's crucial role as the place where women's suffrage was born! I love my city not least because it has a rich history of being bloody minded and bolshy but it has led many a revolution influencing social and political change.

I began by looking at famous Manchester figures such as Emmeline Pankhurst, Annie Kenney and Hannah Mitchell, all fantastic people in their own right. However I found the photos of little known Manchester suffragettes marching and being arrested really moving and inspiring. They brought home the fact that these women risked so much not just for themselves but for the sake of every woman since.

For that reason, rather than concentrating on one person I decided to design a Mancunian 'everywoman'. My suffragette was very inspired by these two photos; the first being two local women wearing news sheets as aprons...

Mabel Capper (left), who by 1913 had been to prison four times in the cause of obtaining the vote for women, and Patricia Woodlock (right) advertising a meeting to be held in Heaton Park, Manchester, Lancashire, 19th July 1908

...and this fantastic Manchester banner once lost in time but now proudly on display at the People's History Museum in Manchester. I think the words on this banner are so powerful and say so much about the city and it's people,

For the tattoo design I wanted to incorporate mills and factories in the image not only to emphasise Manchester's connection to Suffrage but also the fact that many women who became involved in the Manchester movement came from a working class background. With the city booming in the 1900's thanks to the cotton industry, factory work was a mainstay for many of it's growing population.

This was my first design and I looked to Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman for the stance. I always thought Lynda looked strong and assertive when she stood like this with her hands on hips. (Interestingly, Wonder Woman's origins come from a Suffrage background as the creator was a firm supporter of women's Suffrage and his mistress's aunt was Margaret Sanger, an advocate for birth control and a women's rights activist). 

The tattoos are to be just 2" x 2" to fit The Tattooed Lady and I decided once shrinking this design down that it was packing too much into such a small space. Plus I wanted to push the Manchester connection even more within the image so it would be more obvious. I tried playing about with scale and placement but I still thought the whole thing wasn't immediate or 'tattooey' enough (I do like the original image though so I may use it for something else in the future).

In the end I decided to focus mainly on the suffragette's head and shoulders and create a tighter pulled in design. I added a banner for the words 'First in the Fight' and also the Manchester Bee which reflects the city's history and continuing unity in the face of adversity.

The suffragette stands in front of the chimneys (a bit phallic I realised, but they do reflect the male dominance of the era) wearing her hat with its green white and purple ribbon symbolising the movement; purple for loyalty and dignity, white for purity, and green for hope. The white roses stand for the white that suffragettes wore on their protests and also more recently recalls the white roses worn by celebrities on the red carpet to support the #timesup and #metoo movements.

I felt that this image worked better overall and will have more impact when applied to the skin. With the design now sent off for printing I'm looking forward to getting the finished temporary tattoos in my hands and trying them out! You can get your own at Northern Art Carbooty on 26th August! You'll find me there with The Tattooed Lady appearing as a Manchester suffragette myself! More on that to follow, stay tuned!...

Hocum Pokem

 

Last Saturday I went back in time to a place where witches are reborn, cats can talk and spell books have eyes! No, I wasn't watching 90's Disney classic Hocus Pocus, but sitting in the audience of the drag parody Hocum Pokem starring US drag royalty Peaches Christ and Jinkx Monsoon and UK female drag queen Holestar as that tricksy trio of witches The Manderson Sisters!

This wasn't my first time seeing a Peaches Christ Production, last year I watched her fantastic version of Return to Grey Gardens and way back in 2010 I was lucky enough to perform as a backing 'monster' in the UK premiere of Peaches film All About Evil at Manchester's Midnight Mass. With this is mind I was looking forward to something wickedly fabulous, and Hocum Pokem at the Contact Theatre Manchester, did not disappoint!

Sitting as part of a dressed up glamorous and ghoulish audience the show began with the capture and hanging of the Manderson's 300 years ago before we were quickly whisked to modern day 1993 where virgin Max, played expertly by comedian Kate McCabe, unwittingly lights the Black Flame Candle and brings the sisters sauntering back to life for one night only. The girls looked amazing with Peaches suiting the huge red curls and sparkling green gown of Bette Midler to a tee, while Jinkx looked every bit as sexy in the role made famous by Sarah Jessica Parker in the original film.

When Max and his little Cousin Wonderlette (I've never seen the like!) steal the spell book that could keep Peaches and her sisters alive forever they kicked off a series of events that bore close resemblance to the film yet took on a drag life of their own on stage. Handsome Billy Bitcherson was raised from the dead to give chase, and we were treated to the vocal talents of Holestar singing her own version of Proud Mary (she really can belt it out!). We also got treated to the local talents of dancing aces The Ultra Violets, and the storytelling/hosting skills of Manchester's Anna Phylactic.
 

With lots of improvisation and jokes, not to mention audience interaction, the show flew by and before I knew it the sun was rising and the sisters were forced to return to the dead, but not before another big showstopper!

Not wanting the make up and glitter to end and having been put in the mood for a serious dance we then attended the after show party 'Witch I'm Madonna' at Cruz101 where Peaches and Jinkx, in fabulous new attire, hosted a night of Madonna themed drag acts performed by local talent.

I have to say watching Jinkx Monsoon in any guise is a thrill! She just has something that captivates and yes, as my friend stated, gives major confused feelings. An impromptu dance to Vogue only made me love her more.

Nothing phased these US Qweens as they affectionately ribbed off each other. You can tell there is a lot of love and respect on and off stage and their adopted Manchester family certainly felt it too. If the audience reaction was anything to go by when we were asked what show we'd like to see next year, we may be treated to a drag version of Death Becomes Her! and as I can vouch, drag dreams do come true, bring on next October!

Didsbury Arts Festival 2017

If things have seemed a bit quiet on here lately it's because I've been co-ordinating Didsbury Arts Festival which recently finished it's nine day run. 

After months of working behind the scenes to set it up, it was so great to see the festival blossom and come to life, and I got to see some brilliant stuff while I managed the events too! Here's a few of my favourite moments:

A Northern Life in Pictures

Photo by Bartosz-Kowalczyk
Didsbury Arts Festival 2017

Taking place in Didsbury's Shaare Hayim Synagogue, A Northern Life in Pictures featured a talk with photographer Sefton Samuels alongside some of his most iconic images of Manchester and it's surrounding areas. The stories that accompanied the photos really gave an insight into Samuels long and eventful career and his love for the North.

This event also featured a screening of the film A City Speaks which I highly reccommend to anyone with an interest in history and the city of Manchester. Made in 1947 the film told of a Northern power house, 'If you can think of it, Manchester can make it!'. Full of shots of hard working men and women in the factories and familiar landmarks this film transported me to one of my favourite eras whilst giving me a vision of the city I love in one glorious black and white time capsule. You can watch the whole film on the BFI website HERE

Toot Sweet

Photo by Neil Nevill

Mixing music with cake, I have to say this was one of my favourite music events during the festival! Taking her cue from a selection of musical classics by Bach, Gershwin and Schumann, saxophonist Gillian Blair then created a box of bespoke cakes to be eaten as each piece played. Great music, tick! Cake, tick, tick!

Hitler Alone

It's not often you find yourself in the bunker with Adolf Hitler during his last day on earth, but that was where myself and a collection of other audience members found ourselves as Paul Webster performed his one man show, Hitler Alone. Played out in a small dark intimate setting allowing only a handfull of onlookers, we were all taken aback when Hitler stormed furiously into the room outraged that it had all come to this. What followed as an hour of absolute genius; an insight into Hitler's life and the decisions he made. Paul Webster was superb acting out the last moments of a phsycopath who was surprisingly clear headed and determined until the end. 

Roots Stage

Although I technically didn't get to see all of this event (what with managing one half of it) I was really pleased at how successfully it went. This was probably the largest project we put on as part of the festival.

Set in Didsbury Park, Roots Stage was a mini festival within a festival. Consisting of a main stage with live music from bands and singers throughout the day, there was also a running order of performances and activites happening around the park. We had puppet shows, dances, comedy joggers and interactive experiences.

 Photo by Tom Bullock

 Photo by Tom Bullock 

When the sun decided to join us (and stayed!) the picture was complete and it was a very satisfying moment to look out at a sea of sunbathers and pic-nicers enjoying the mellow music and festival atmosphere. Kids were entertained and the odd pet dog could be seen racing about with a huge smile on its face. It was a great moment.

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I'll be back soon to continue my investigation into the history of the black pin up. If you haven't read them already, take a look (HERE), I've written several posts exploring this fascinating slice of the past often overlooked or ignored. See you soon...

House of Suarez Manchester Vogue Ball

So, for anyone who missed my post about going to the Vogue Ball in Manchester in March this year, here is a delicious taster of what I experienced. This video captures the energy and creative electricity that was in the air that night but really, you needed to go yourself to fully feel how stunning it was.

My Hidden Pin Up posts are inspired by the House of Ghetto who performed that night and who I will be working with on a project about the history of the black Pin Up. If you haven't done it yet take a scroll down my blog and find out more! 

Return to Grey Gardens, Manchester

I'm a bit late in writing this, but I was recently lucky enough to see the fabulous Jinkx Monsoon and Peaches Christ perform in Return to Grey Gardens in Manchester!

The show was a drag tribute to the original cult documentary film Grey Gardens  shot by the Maysles brothers in 1975. 

Featuring mother and daughter, Big Edie and Little Edie Beale, the film follows the two women as they coexist in the crumbling remains of their once grand East Hampton home Grey Gardens surrounded by dozens of cats and raccoons and the debris of decades of neglect and lack of money. It's fascinating to watch and there's something both touching and inspiring in the way Little Edie fashions new outfits out of a jumble of ragtag items topped with her remaining Tiffany brooch.

The film is full of classic one liners as both women argue and make up, sing and dance their way through each monotonous day. The stage show reenacted whole sections of beloved dialogue from the film perfectly and I loved how Jinkx, with the perfect upper crust Manhattan drawl, put her own spin on Little Edie as the beleaguered daughter Little Jinkxy, with dreams of stardom forced to stay with her manipulative Drag Mother Big Peachy.

Return to Grey Gardens was the perfect homage to the film, never poking fun at the two women who inspired it, always tongue in cheek but at times poignant too. Little Jinkxy belting out I Dreamed a Dream to her rooftop raccoon audience was stunning, funny and when you think about it, right on the money, as Little Edie was a performer at heart who never got to fulfill her calling.

Peaches Christ looked amazing and was great as the pushy matriarch who cooks a mean corn and takes a little too much delight in the handy man Jerry (played with panache by Team GB athlete Matt Lister!) and I loved how the show made good use of local talent to fill the roles of birthday party guests, cats and the Beale's famous cousin Jackie O! All the performances were brilliant and it looked like everyone was having the best fun ever. Special mention goes to Manchester creative Bren O Callaghan who not only produced the show but starred in it as the camera toting David Maysles.

I'd been excited to see the show for months and in the run up I drew Jinkx as Little Jinkxy, which I'm pleased to say she loved and she also re-posted on her Instagram.

I'd have loved to have made the after show party STAUNCH which happened at Islington Mill but it wasn't to be, fortunately I was able to live vicariously through this backstage video filmed at the Mill before the girls went on stage and Peaches has some interesting things to say about the show and why the film appeals to the drag/gay scene so much.

Top marks to everyone involved, we certainly had loads of fun and loved dressing up to be in the audience, I'll never listen to 'Stay' by Rihanna in the same way again, it was so so good.

The lights are much brighter there

Here's the second interview for my Gentlemen Prefer Blondes update series. I'm catching up with the first people I ever painted from over a decade ago in order to update their original portraits based on their life experiences and individual stories. Find out why and how I intend to do this HERE.

Alex is someone I've known for about 20 years. She is my brother in law's niece and a few years younger than me. Although we never got to know each other really well we still both fell into the alternative scene of the early 2000's so had some shared memories. For instance we went to see Blur together at Manchester's G-mex, when it was still called the G-mex and I remember bumping into her regularly at The Ritz when it still had it's rock night on a Monday. She posed for me back in 2003 in a makeshift photo shoot at her then shared house, where we discussed boys, clothes and the film Girl Interrupted, the theme song of which she chose as inspiration for the quote for her portrait.

The Lights are Much Brighter There acrylic on canvas 2004

Now, Alex works as a Marketing & Communications Manager for the youth charity Mahdlo based in Oldham and her as her chief love, an actor. She is also a founding member of The Unnamed Theatre Company. Our interview began on a pleasant Sunday morning in Manchester city centre over steaming mugs of tea:

Tell me more about your theatre company

It's a group of stage managers, actors and directors working together. We couldn't agree on a name hence it's called The Unnamed Theatre Company. Our first show was in August, it was 'In Flame' by Charlotte Jones and ran at Joshua Brookes and Oldham Library.
 

How much does being an actor figure in your sense of self? What does it mean to you?

It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. When I was 18 I wondered what I was going to do at Uni but the performing arts courses with their ‘jazz hands’ always put me off. So I studied philosophy instead.
 
In my mid 20’s I still wanted to do acting and performance. People assume you must be extroverted but I hate being the centre of attention in public. However I love performing

Why do you think that is? 

I’m really nosy and I like figuring out the psychology of things. Last year I was doing a play and thought ‘this is a really odd thing to do with your time!’ No matter how hard work is I go to classes and once there I always come out feeling great.

You've told me before about having anxiety and depression, how have you managed to deal with that? 

I’ve had depression on and off since my younger years but I never figured out why. A few years ago I was in a crappy relationship and I thought it was me that was the problem. Doctors just tried to give me drugs so I went on a course of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). I finally gave myself the time and space to tackle my anxiety. 

The CBT was really useful; it taught me small daft things like thinking, ‘I Could’ instead of ‘I should’. It took off some of the pressure I put on myself.

Six months after the course I got a new job,quit the Philosophy course which wasn’t working for me and got out of the horrible relationship.

I still get anxious but I can manage and the overwhelming sense of doom has gone. It takes time but I wasn’t afraid to tackle stuff anymore. After that I got into acting. I’m more comfortable. It’s true that in life you only get out what you put in.

   

When I look at your Gentlemen Prefer Blondes portrait I see the rock/grunge scene of the early 2000’s. It makes me think of dancing to Marilyn Manson, reading Kerrang magazine and trying out smudgy makeup looks.  Personally I find your portrait very evocative of that time and the sub cultures that defined it. Can you explain your look in your portrait and why you were drawn to the alternative scene? 

The alternative scene has always been incredibly important to me; it allows outsiders to have a sense of belonging, to meet like-minds and like-hearts, it encourages experimentation in self-expression. We used to go to the Star and Garter every Saturday, Rockworld on Thursdays, The Ritz on Mondays...

When I was younger I felt it was important to *look* different because I felt different. Clothes and aesthetics were hugely important to me in terms of exploring my own identity and that of other people. As I’ve got older, that exploration and sense of identity is still there but manifests itself in so many different ways – whether it’s embracing punk or DIY approaches to building communities or putting on events; discovering art, books, films, music, politics and philosophies that are tied to different subcultures; finding strength and inspiration in zines and the riot grrrl scene… I don’t dress wildly different to when I did then. Maybe fewer pairs of ripped fishnets, but still a lot of black and a lot of leopard print!

What things that inspire you now? 

Ru Paul’s Drag Race! I started watching it when I was such a crap place. It’s so fun and celebratory. Again it’s about pop culture and sub cultures.

I try to see as much live performance as I can as it reinvigorates me and I get inspiration from friends and my support network.
I watch films obsessively and my mum is a big inspiration too obviously.

You look very young and hopeful in your portrait yet the quote you chose implies a yearning for something more. Can you explain how you felt at the time, what you were doing and what your outlook on life was like? 

I always had a head full of ideas and dreams and hopes but didn’t have the confidence, knowledge or experience to know what to do with them. Having come from a working class background in a small town but close to a city, I always felt the world was full of possibilities but didn’t know if those possibilities were for me… I guess at the time, I was uncertain but hopeful that they might be.

Do you identify with that quote at all now?

Yeah I think so. It’s good to be happy but I don’t know if you should ever be fully content. It’s not so much a comparative thing, more an explorative thing. Back when I posed for the painting it was as if the lights were much brighter there...and they weren't here.

But now it’s more a case of yeah, I’d like to try that, like starting a theatre company and acting.

 

I'd also say that although the pose you strike is confident there is a certain amount of vulnerability that comes across, of untested youth and a feeling of invincibility. When you look at the picture now 13 years on how does it make you feel? 

I think that’s quite accurate of how I was at the time. Often on the surface, looking confident and feeling like I owned how I looked and how I felt, but with a lot of underlying insecurities – definitely posed rather than looking at the camera, and thinking about the future or a world outside of my experiences. 

If we were to do a photo shoot now, how do you think you’d react? 

Now I’m much more comfortable in my skin. I’ve got used to the fact that I can’t look ‘selfie hot’ all the time.

I did a performance just after my MA where I wanted to do something that took me out of my comfort zone so I came up with a piece called ‘Grapheme’. I stood completely naked for 24 hours in the foyer of East St Arts in Leeds and got written on by the public. I was blindfolded too. It was a chance to do something that terrified me but people wrote so many nice and positive things.

Before I did it I was like, I need to lose weight, get toned up! But I didn’t. It was weird because people assumed that as I was blindfolded I couldn’t hear them either. I heard one girl say ‘urgh, don’t write on her, she’s got stretch marks’. But the talking about me made me less concerned about what other people think. After doing that, I can tackle anything!

I was playing with the idea of the ideal woman for this work back in 2003/4. I was celebrating femininity. Can you tell me what your opinion of the ideal woman is or even if that phrase has any relevance to you now? 

Patti Smith. Bold, trailblazing, artistic, curious, compassionate, punk, unafraid to show vulnerability but capable of kicking arse… 

Feminism is obviously very important to you; what does it means to you? Everyone’s definitions seem to differ...

To me personally, it’s about inner strength, having a voice and community and creating a positive platform to tackle issues like under representation and fair representation.

I think there does need to be an attacking stance in some cases but it should always be personal to the individual. The tricky thing is the amount of infighting within feminism. There’s a superiority thing of ‘my philosophy being better than yours’. But you can’t embrace something about equality if you think like that. It drives me nuts!

 

Do you think Western societies ideas of the ideal woman have changed much since Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was produced?

I have been lucky to be surrounded by incredibly intelligent, brave, outspoken, creative women and to have had access to communities (online and offline) where a lot of progress has been made in terms of open dialogue, body positivity, feminism, LGBTQIA rights, etc… but working with young people, you can see that there are so many issues still permeating society’s view of women, from the media, selfie-culture, etc. 

Plus with the increase in trolling and online bullying (Men’s Rights Activists, victim shaming, rape culture), as well as ongoing global oppression of women, in-fighting amongst feminist / women’s groups, it feels like it’s becoming increasingly dangerous to speak out or at least that there are whole new ways for women to be attacked for doing so.

What would you tell/advise the person in the portrait if you could, knowing what you know now?  

Don’t panic. You want to have your shit together NOW. You want to know yourself NOW. You want to figure everything out NOW. Some time from now (OK, some time around 2015 – DON’T PANIC!), you’ll figure out a whole bunch of things and be happier than you’ve ever been. On the way to that point, you’ll do some amazing things and meet some amazing people, you’ll have some dark times, you’ll make some terrible decisions, you’ll doubt yourself, you’ll make some great decisions, you’ll get through it all, you will end up with the most ridiculous collections of anecdotes that you will be able to laugh about one day.
 

I’d tell her to value herself, look after herself and to trust her instincts more. And I’d use RuPaul’s words of advice...

 

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Thanks very much to Alex for talking to me and being so candid. She is someone who is living every facet of her life with a sense of purpose and I really admire that. I like the way Alex is political and faces issues through pro activism and the arts. I found her tackle with depression really uplifting and the thing which stood out most for me was her art piece she performed allowing people to write on her naked body. 

The idea of facing ones insecurities while being so vulnerable was obviously a huge part of what now makes Alex who she is. I really like the idea of writing upon the skin and changing a surface through this kind of interaction and this is something I am playing with in order to update her original portrait. I'm thinking about key words which Alex herself had mentioned and the idea of stripping something down and building it back together...I'll be posting more here as the project continues...