Last Friday I finally got round to visiting Tate Britain for the 'Women In Revolt!' exhibition - just in time as it closed yesterday.
The sub-title for the exhibition was 'Art and Activism in the UK 1970 - 1990' and there was certainly plenty of both on display, with photos and magazine articles from the time alongside the art. Here are a couple of photos. If you are interested there are more on Flickr.
The first piece is by Alexis Hunter and has the snappy title ''The Marxist Wife Still Does The Housework', while the second by Marlene Smith is about the shooting of Cherry Groce which sparked the Brixton riots in 1985.
There was a section of the exhibition dedicated to the music of what we'll loosely call the punk era. While it was a bit strange to see records I bought in my youth laid out and labelled as historical artifacts, it was a reminder of how many excellent all female and female-led bands there were back then.
X-Ray Spex, The Slits, The Raincoats, The Au Pairs, Mo-Dettes, Delta 5, Poison Girls, Cosi Fanni Tutti and Ludus were all present and correct, as was one of the best pop songs of all time, "Going Nowhere Fast" by Girls At Our Best!.
There were a few favourites of mine from that time that were missing though, so I'm going to plug the gap. Sensitive souls out there should be warned that "Stereotyping" contains some obscenities. Even worse, in "Violence Grows" 15 year old tearaway Honey Bane tells a bus conductor to "push off". Shameful behaviour.
"Stereotyping" - Jam Today
"Violence Grows" - Fatal Microbes
"Danger Signs" - Penetration
What a glorious collection of tunes. I'd not come across Jam Today before, though they immediately endeared themselves with the jazzy trumpet. I had to listen very carefully for the swears, but someone was clattering pans in the background so I'll have to listen again in more detail later.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd got to see this show, but great to read about here and see on your Flickr page. I love seeing that list of names, all bands and artists who were so different not just from the mainstream but from each other too. A sweet spot time in music and creativity.
ReplyDeleteFor a few brief, rather awkward weeks, aged 15, I went out with a good-looking punk lad from the next town, but it wasn't to be, He went on to marry Ramona from the Mo-dettes!
The man was clearly a fool but I suppose it was hard to resist the exotic charms of those Swiss punk women who were everywhere at the time. I myself would have happily proposed to any member of Kleenex had the opportunity arisen.
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