Jungle Fever: Grace Jones, postmodern icon

Evolution of cover image of of Grace Jones’ album “Island Life”

Like the image above, Grace Jones, the icon not the person, was a myth-making collaboration between Grace Jones the woman, and Jean-Paul Goude a French-born, New York-based illustrator, photographer, choreographer, costume designer, art director. Grace Jones (born Grace Mendoza in Jamaica) was a model and a budding disco singer, when she met Goude via Andy Warhol in the now legendary NYC downtown culture scene. In her live shows she was playing off her strong masculine features to present an androgynous, outrageous persona to the gay boys who were the mainstay of the disco scene of the time.

Together they built on the androgyny and played up the geometry/angularity of her masculine features (via hair and clothes) recalling the abstract forms on African masks that had so inspired European modern artists like Picasso. Jones and Goude also remixed all the cross-cultural influences (African-American, Puerto Rican, Jones’ own Jamaican background) coursing through the neighborhoods of New York. Add in Goude’s mentalspace and his personal obsession with the exotic/primitive/erotic aspects of African beauty filtered through his French sensiblities. Throw in the raw, sex and drug-fueled creativity/experimentation happening in New York at the time, sprinkle in the then new technology-driven music called New Wave. And unleash the whole mess in a cocktail of costume, props, fashion, performance, body movement, hair, video, music, attitude.

Grace Jones: Demolition Man, part of a performance art piece called “A One Man Show” from 1982

The results of this collaboration introduced a new post-modern archetype of the black woman in pop culture. It joined Josephine Baker, Lena Horne, the Supremes, icons who came before and Erykah Badu after. The image of Grace Jones was postmodern in how it fought sexual, racial, gender stereotypes and taboos by embracing and de-fanging them, postmodern in how it defiantly resisted any attempt at categorization since it was the dizzying combination of so many things.

I recently read the book “Jungle Fever” and came away impressed by Jean-Paul Goode’s groundbreaking art. But it was disturbing to read how he was so open in admitting his obsession with the exotic and erotic qualities of Black women and how much he let it drive his creative work. At best it was naive and presumptuous, at worst, racist. But really, artists are successful to the extent they make real what is going on inside their heads, making it both specific and universal, timely and timeless. In that respect Jean-Paul Goude was wildly successful, objectification of notwithstanding.

Jean-Paul Goude: Retrospective Those of us of a certain, cough, age must remember the surreal Chanel Egoiste ads.

Source: Postcolonialism and androgyny: the performance art of Grace Jones by Miriam Kershaw.

Source: Jungle Fever by Jean-Paul Goude.