Grace Jones Poster

Title: Grace Jones Poster
Description: Singer-performer Grace Jones firmly established her signature androgynous look with this iconic image advertising her 1981 Nightclubbing album and subsequent concerts. With her taut, slim body, gleaming dark skin, square-cut hair, and broad-shouldered masculine jacket with the plunging neckline, Jones satirized gender and racial stereotypes with a fashion-conscious theatricality that became part of her performance. Jones had been a successful model in Paris and then part of Andy Warhol's circle and the disco dance scene of New York. Her cross-dressing, use of the body, and sexualized performance all echo the complex exploitation and subversion of stereotypes by African American performer Josephine Baker in 1920s Paris. Jones's sleek, trend-setting look echoes the African-inspired geometric stylization of Baker's day, as well as the minimalist aesthetic of her own.
Creator: Goude, Jean-Paul, 1940-
Date Created: 1981
Type: Music posters
Format: Posters
Extent: 32 3/16 x 20 7/8 in
Language: English
Subject: Dance music
Identifier: shd_1981_01
Source: National Portrait Gallery
Rights
Rights Holder: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Chisholm Larsson Gallery, New York City