Article: WHEN KEITH HARING PAINTED THE HEAVENLY BODY OF GRACE JONES
"Grace Jones was 36 in 1984 when she, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, and pop artist Keith Haring all converged in Mapplethorpe’s studio in New York City. The reason for the epic get-together was to shoot photos of Jones covered in body paint done by Haring in his distinctive style. The session lasted a marathon eighteen hours during which Jones was photographed by Mapplethorpe adorned by Haring’s body paint, a towering headdress and an ornate “skirt.” Orchestrated by Warhol—who had introduced Haring to Jones a few years prior—Andy had been wanting to feature Jones on the cover of Interview magazine and believed that an artistic collaboration between Haring and Jones would be awesome. And he wasn’t wrong. However, Mapplethorpe and Warhol didn’t exactly click despite Mapplethorpe’s desire to be among Warhol’s ever-growing gang of muses, friends, and hanger-ons. In fact, during the photo shoot, it has been alleged that Mapplethorpe attempted to sabotage Warhol while he was taking photos of Jones by requesting Andy not use his flash in his studio. Meow."
Mapplethorpe’s final photos are interesting in their own right due to their union of different visions. You have Grace Jones’ body and gestures, with her capacity to strut like in the photos she did with Jean Paul Gaude, portraying a being between an animal and a human. On top of that, you have Haring’s primary and instinctive strokes that make her look like a tribal queen, dancing for her gods. And of course, you have Robert Mapplethorpe’s lens, which I personally love. The purist black and white and a direct and always symmetric framing that searches for the classic beauty canon.
"Getting back to Haring’s work with Grace Jones, he would get to paint the Jamaican goddess more than once, including when Grace performed live at the Paradise Garage before the much-loved gay-club closed its doors. Perhaps most memorably Haring would use Jones’ body as his canvas when she landed the role of Katrina the Queen of The Vampires in the 1986 film Vamp. The look Jones cultivated for Katrina is said to be based on the character played by actress Daryl Hannah in the 1982 film Blade Runner—at least when it comes to Jones’ startling red wig and face makeup. For Jones’ 1986 video for the song “I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You),” Haring was enlisted to paint the massive 60-foot white skirt Jones wears in the video. The video also includes time-lapse footage of Haring painting the giant skirt and a brief appearance by Andy Warhol—one of his very last before he passed away three months later on February 22, 1987."
"Haring’s handiwork on Jones’ magnificent bodyscape was not the first time he used a live human as a canvas. In 1983 Haring painted Bill T. Jones, the legendary Tony Award-winning dancer, choreographer and cofounder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. This session was photographed by Tseng Kwong Chi, a prominent figure in the downtown NYC art scene."
This collaboration was so inspiring to me. If anything I like the action shots just as much, if not more than the final photography because they are more candid and real. Warhol had met Keith Haring and for him, Grace Jones' body was the perfect canvas for the artist; it had the same characteristic combination between pop and the primitive. Graces body slowly getting covered in paint marks reminds me of an noble person being dressed by her servants. The paint clothes her as she oozes with elegance and strength simultaneously. I would love to channel this strength and elegance into my body paint work as her whole body (and that of Bill T. Jones) was completely transformed by the lines as they seem to abstract from the normal curves you would be used to.
I'm also interested in the thickness of the line that Haring uses on the body as he has experimented with both thin lines and thicker marks. What I have noticed is that I instinctively want to put thinner lines on my female model because I feel that they would better accentuate her curves.
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