G. B. Jones

G. B. Jones is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines. She is best known for producing J.D.s and her Tom Girls drawings.

G. B. Jones
GenresPost-punk
Occupation(s)Musician, artist, filmmaker
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, drums
Years active1980s-present

Career

Music

Jones' musical career began when she was a young child, singing Canadian folk songs in the school choir. Though she didn’t have enough money to buy records, her uncle was very involved in the folk music community and exposed her to a musical education that would prove valuable later on.[1] From the early 1980s to the late 1990s, Jones performed with the all woman post-punk band Fifth Column, playing drums, guitar and background vocals, and was one of the co-founders of the group.[2] The band's first album, To Sir With Hate was released in 1985.[3] In 2002, Fifth Column's last release, Imbecile, appeared on the Kill Rock Stars compilation album Fields and Streams.[4]

Artwork and publications

G. B. Jones initially received recognition for her Tom Girls drawings, which were published in the queer punk fanzine J.D.s, founded by Jones and co-published with Bruce LaBruce.[5]

Themes

In an interview with Xtra Toronto, Jones shares, “I was interested in certain issues that I don’t think many people may have picked up on in the work, ideas about authority figures, power, obviously, and the abuse of power, and gender roles as they pertain to both sexes. I think there’s been a tendency to take a very reductivist view of the work as simply erotic and kind of dismiss that there could be any other concerns involved.”[6]

According to Dodie Bellamy, G. B. Jones "co-opts the male-on-male objectifying gaze of gay erotica and converts it to a female-on-female gaze" and herTom Girls series of drawings (based on the work of Tom of Finland) are "unapologetic, thrillingly anti-assimilationist."[7] Jones gives her marginalized female characters a place to reclaim their power. By changing the narrative, Jones's drawings allow viewers to compare the effect of women in those positions of authority versus the men.[6]

Queercore

Jones coined the term “homocore” with LaBruce to cater to the social mutants of the underground. It later evolved into "queercore" to be more inclusive.[8]

Exhibition history

Jones has exhibited her art nationally and internationally since the early 1990s, in spaces such as Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus; Participant Inc., New York; Mercer Union, Toronto; The Power Plant, Toronto; Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna; White Columns, New York; AKA Artist Run Space, Winnipeg; Muncher Kunstverein, Munich; and Schwules Museum, Berlin. Her first gallery was Feature Inc. in New York, curated by Hudson, who was the first art dealer to showcase her Tom Girls series of drawings from 1991 to 1999.[9]

Filmography

Director
  • The Troublemakers, directed by G. B. Jones (1990)
  • The Yo-Yo Gang, directed by G. B. Jones (1992)
  • The Lollipop Generation, directed by G. B. Jones (2008)
  • The Dark End of the Street, directed by G.B. Jones (2017)

Actor

Further reading
Books
  • Jennifer Camper, ed., Juicy Mother, Soft Skull Press, 2005, ISBN 1-932360-70-0
  • Jennifer Camper and Manic D Press, eds., Juicy Mother 2: How They Met, 2007 ISBN 978-1-933149-20-2
  • Firoza Elavia, ed., Cinematic folds: the furling and unfurling of images, Pleasure Dome, 2008, ISBN 978-0-9682115-4-0
  • Marcus Ewert and Mitchell Watkins, eds., Ruh Roh, published by Feature Inc. and Instituting Contemporary Idea, NYC, 1992
  • Robin Fisher, ed., 'What's Wrong? Explicit Graphic Interpretations Against Censorship, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2002, ISBN 1-55152-136-9
  • Andrea Juno, ed., Dangerous Drawings, Juno Books, 1997, ISBN 0-9651042-8-1
  • Selene Kapsaski (edited by Jeremy Richey), Welcome to Jonestown: Southern Ontario Gothic, Art Decades, 2015, ISBN 1511568984
  • Robert Kirby and David Kelly, eds., Boy Trouble, Boy Trouble Books, 2004, ISBN 0-9748855-0-9
  • Robert Kirby and David Kelly, eds., The Book of Boy Trouble 2: Born to Trouble, Green Candy Press, 2008 ISBN 978-1-931160-65-0
  • Andy Paciorek and Katherine Beem, eds, Folk Horror Revival: Field Studies, Wyrd Harvest Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1-326-37637-6
  • Leila Pourtavaf, ed., Feminismes Electrique. La Centrale, 2012, ISBN 978-2-89091-321-9
  • Spencer, Amy; DIY: The Rise Of Lo-Fi, Marion Boyars Publishers, London, England, 2005 ISBN 0-7145-3105-7
  • Scott Treleaven, The Salivation Army Black Book, Printed Matter Inc./Art Metropole, 2006, ISBN 0-89439-021-X
G. B. Jones, editor
  • 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 Bruce LaBruce and G. B. Jones, Issues 1-7, 1985 to 1991
  • Hide, edited by Caroline Azar, Candy Pauker, G. B. Jones, Issues 1-5, 1981 to 1985

See also

References
  1. "A Conversation with G.B. Jones: The Foremother of Queercore & Riot Grrrl - A Grrrl's Two Sound Cents". agrrrlstwosoundcents.com. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  2. McDonnell, Evelyn. Girls + Guitars. Out Magazine. Vol. 8, No. 10. Published by Here Publishing. April 2000.
  3. Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-992-9.
  4. Adrien Begrand (12 July 2002). "Indie Heaven, Circa 2002". Pop Matters. Archived from the original on 14 July 2002.
  5. Block, Adam (20 November 1990). "The Queen of 'Zine". The Advocate. p. 75.
  6. "StackPath". xtramagazine.com. 27 April 2005. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  7. Dodie Bellamy (9 January 2019). "Dodie Bellamy on G.B. Jones's Nasty Female Role Models". Frieze (200). Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  8. Wilde, Christopher (May 2006). "The Origin of Love" (PDF). Queer Life. p. 1. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  9. "Feature Inc. Previous Exhibitions 1991". Feature Inc. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
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