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Vaginal Davis

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Olga Garcia-Echeverria

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Vaginal Davis

  • Artist Vaginal Davis
  • Vaginal's Art
  • Contributor Monica Gray

Vaginal Davis Performance Collage

Standing six and a half feet tall, not including her heels, Davis is an impressive sight in the night club as she performs her comedic and, yes, rather shocking, routine complete with a full drag costume. But Vaginal Cream Davis is not just popular in the Los Angeles night clubs: she is a visual performance artist of an impressive berth and has dabbled (and thrived) as a musician, a film director, an actress, a comedian, a producer, a writer, a painter, and an independent curator. She is the originator of the homo-core punk movement and is a gender-queer music icon who has been in a multitude of concept bands- including Pedro Muriel and Esther, Cholita!, The Female Menudo, blag fag, and the Afro Sisters- which have made their own significant mark on the development of underground music. She is also the founder of the HAG art gallery, originally founded in L.A in the 80's, which consists of not only her own original paintings of women "trapped in women's bodies", but also a myriad of other underground artwork that dabbles in experimentation and explores underdeveloped artistic niches.

She is also associated with forming the queer-core zine movement, which published articles following the queer movement in a cut and paste, do-it-yourself style (which was also a popular method of advertising and spreading the news of many other less-known radical movements).

Ms Davis was born with both male and female genitalia, and she describes herself as a "strange hybrid creature". When asked why she does what she does in the nightclubs of L..A., She simply said "[Throughout my life] people would always stare at me... so I figured I might as well be on stage!". Ms. Davis's art and activist movements have inspired and influenced many lives and her comedic routines have tightened many abs- but first and foremost she is a living example of how to take your most unique attribute (and sometimes your most personal or embarrassing) and make it a living and breathing work of art.

Pedro Muriel and Esther

 

Pedro Muriel and Esther is a  queer-punk band (one of the earliest) co-founded by Vaginal Davis and Glen Meadmore in the ‘90s. It features Vag and Glen performing in drag while singing songs with mock-discriminatory lyrics and strong guitar chords. Amoeba Records, an independent record label, recorded their first 7” EP which included their songs and Haute Sexy D, Mushroom Head, Anne-ee and Closet Case; then they continued to record their album The White to Be Angry with producer Steve Albini. The band doubles as a satire on bigotry (against minorities and the queer community) and a stand-up comedic routine in which the band members dress according to the theme of the show. Their “White Power Tour”, performed at Spaceland on Silver Lake Blvd. in 2009, is a great example of their powerful combination of comedy, satire, and kick-ass tunes- and yes you can find it on Youtube.
 Homosexual is probably their most famous song (which they performed at Spaceland) as well as my favorite. Punk has always been my preferred genre of music, and though I had never heard of queer-punk before researching Vaginal, it indeed stays true to the core aspects of the punk genre. With its less-than ear pleasing melodies, its abrasive instrumentation and controversial lyrics, the only thing that truly sets PME apart from the likes of Black Flag  or Choking Victim is the drag and queer-laced satire.

My name is Monica Gray. I am a third year English major (with intent on picking up an education minor) and love to play tennis and watch netflix in my spare time. I love to make people laugh and to spend my time enjoying the company of people who accept me as I am- weird antics and all. I would have to say one of the most unique things about me is my elementary through middle school experience: I was homeschooled from second through eighth grade by my parents- yes, that means a book, a table, and my father teaching me algebra and everything else I would need for high school. Growing up away from the pressures of my peers and the influences of the public school system made me stick out like a sore thumb once I went to private high school- but in a good way I like to think. I grew up literally believing I could do anything I put my mind to and did not have the prejudgements about people that many of my peers did (nor the fashion sense, i admit). I was also encouraged to write poetry, paint pictures, draw and make music (guitar, drums, or keyboard), and to enjoy art in all its forms as well as produce it.

I like punk and other 90's genres, international, classic rock, techno, dubstep, new wave and no wave music etc. - and enjoy a good shock! When I had cable growing up I used to watch the discovery health channel when they featured surgeries just for the stimulation. This weird turn brings me to my artist: Vaginal Davis. I chose her because she is such an inspiration- fusing her activism with all her other artisitc talents (from painting to comedy in drag) in the face of harsh criticisms is worthy of admiration in my opinion. Well, all that and she makes me laugh.