Grace Jones, Blood and the art of Keith Haring...
My wife and I recently re-watched the 1986 horror comedy Vamp with the intention of it possible serving as a good Weirdhouse Cinema pick for me and inspiration for a Grace Jones-inspired photo shoot for her.
I figured it might be good WHC material. After all, you've got Grace Jones as an ancient Egyptian vampire, Sandy Baron as a Vegas Renfield and Billy Drago as yet another violent creep. What's not to love?
Well, upon watching the film again, the answer to that question is "much." There are some choices in racial depictions that certainly don't hold up and the entire script reeks of 80s frat worship and a subdued but potent misogyny. I think efforts were made to subvert that misogyny, such as making the vampire dancers more avant-garde burlesque than strippers, but by the end of the film I felt there was too much in the "con" category on this one.
However, I still had to blog about the weirdest and most wonderful aspect of Vamp -- tied with Grace Jones' energetic presence but perhaps less celebrated. At the heart of this film is the art of American pop artist Keith Haring (1958-1990). If you think yourself unfamiliar with Haring's work, a quick image search should convince you otherwise. He was an important and iconic NYC pop artist whose work still resonates today, both reflecting something of the contemporary human condition while also exuding 80s nostalgia. I highly recommend visiting the Keith Haring Foundation website to learn more about him, his work and his legacy.
How does this connect to Vamp? Well, as explored in this excellent Dangerous Minds post from 2018, the whole picture basically emerges out of a Grace Jones photo shoot put together by Haring, Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe. Jones' painted body was the basis for her vampire character's appearance -- which Haring also provided in one of his few film credits. Not only this, but the bizarre chair that Grace Jones dances upon was also painted by Haring and was apparently based on a body cast of her then-boyfriend Dolph Lundgren.
My main question after learning this was simply, What became of this weird prop? Does it reside in a museum somewhere? A private collection or perhaps Grace Jones' guest bed room? I found a photo of Haring posed with the prop on Joe Latimer's Keith Haring 101 (which is a solid read, check it out):
Despite its visual flair, I doubt Vamp is anyone's favorite movie, but I love how central a single artist's vision is to the picture. When I try to think of other examples of this, my mind instantly goes to the film projects of H.R. Giger and Brian Froud. But who else?
Like I said, there's a lot worth forgetting about this film -- but Haring's work, along with the performances of Grace Jones and Sandy Baron, isn't one of them.
Comments