So I've been looking into loads of different artists and one of the interesting women artists I have been looking at I thought I'd write a little bit about quickly as this particular performance piece she did waaaay back in the 70's made me laugh and also reminded me of Valerie Solanas and her s.c.u.m manifesto (which I bought from the freedom bookshop in white chapel which is amazing) ...VAILE EXPORT is an Austrian artist whose work covers many media, video, installation, animation, photography and performance. She is renowned for her taboo breaking feminist performances. Most interestingly she did a performance piece she called Action Pants: Genital Panic, whereby she entered porn cinemas in crotch less pants wielding a machine gun, she then challenged the male audiences to engage with a real woman, not the fantasy women on screen.

VALIE EXPORT

Society For Cutting Up Men...? A bit Extreme?!!!!

A close friend of mine is working on a campaign to highlight the taboos surrounding rape. She is working with High schools in the North West to try and break boundaries, hopefully enabling people to talk about it more freely, to discuss the issues it raises and to empower women. The facts surrounding rape are shocking and stark.

About a quarter of women questioned this year said they were "very worried" about being raped or attacked. There were 11,441 recorded rapes last year, according to latest police figures. It is such and under reported and undiscussed area and this is what the Stop Rape campaign aims to highlight. I was asked to do some drawings for the paperwork, booklets, posters and badges which are being distributed as part of the campaign. It was difficult as I didn't want to do anything too dark or off putting it also had to be imagery which would not put off young people or men. These are some of the images I came up with...

Some new drawings from my sketchbook...

I found these 50's womens magazine and thought some of the illustrations and adverts were amusing and interesting, so different to today's womens magazine yet in some ways the content was the same, fashion, homes, get thin, diets even cosmetic surgery....

apparently carpets are every womans dream? Look how happy she is with her washing machine!!! What a Glorious day!

'Creams just like a dream' ? ? ? ?

...So over Easter I found an Aladdin's Cave, and bought these old photo's which I love!

There were so many of them it was hard to choose. I especially love that they were divided with comments such as ' Men with Beards' 'Ladies with Hats' and 'Couples with Furniture'

Even the back of the cards are nice...maybe even nicer than the front...