This is about the person. For the book of her art, see G.B. Jones (book).

G. B. Jones is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines based in Toronto, Canada. Her drawings have been featured at galleries around the world ^[1], and her films screened at numerous film festivals, both in Canada and abroad.^[2]

Contents 1 1980s 2 1990s 3 Artwork 4 2000s 5 Personal life 6 Filmography 7 Bibliography 8 Notes and references 8.1 Further reading 9 External links

[edit] 1980s

In the early 1980s Jones joined her first band, the experimental synth punk group, Bunny and the Lakers. Led by songwriter Peter Morgan and including Howard Pope, the band released one LP called Numbers. The trio performed live only once in Toronto.

From the early 1980s to the late 1990s, Jones performed with the all-female experimental post-punk band Fifth Column, playing drums and guitar, and was one of the co-founders of the group. The band's first album, To Sir With Hate was released in 1985. The same year saw the release of the influential fanzine J.D.s, which Jones founded and co-published with Bruce LaBruce, the initials 'J.D.s' standing for Juvenile Delinquents. Among other things, the editors wrote a manifesto for the punk publication Maximum Rock 'N' Roll and, at the end of the decade, released a cassette tape entitled J.D.s Top Ten Tape, which featured bands from the U.S.A., Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.

[edit] 1990s

Jones has directed and appeared in a number of underground films. In 1990, the two J.D.s editors held J.D.s movie nights in London, Toronto, Montreal and San Francisco, showing their no budget films made on Super 8 mm film. The Troublemakers premiered at this time and proved influential, although rarely screened afterwards till the mid 2000s. She starred in No Skin Off My Ass in 1991; to date, her own films have all been made on Super 8. Her best known work from this period is perhaps The Yo-Yo Gang, released in 1992, a 30-minute exploitation movie about girl gangs. The film stars a number of well-known musicians, including Fifth Column members Caroline Azar and Beverly Breckenridge.

The group went on to release three singles and two more albums. All-Time Queen Of The World was released in 1991 and a video for the song "Like This" was produced. Their last album, 36-C, contained perhaps their best-known and most controversial song, "All Women Are Bitches," which was released prior to the album as a single by K Records, and chosen "Single of the Week" by the UK paper Melody Maker. The band released two more singles and also appeared on a number of compilation albums.

[edit] Artwork

She is well known for her appropriation of the fetish art of Tom of Finland, re-interpreting both his drawings and Vivienne Westwood's punk exploitation of his work, through her series of 'Tom Girl' drawings. These drawings first came to public attention through the zine J.D.s, which was published from 1985 till 1991. In the early 1990s these drawings began to be shown in galleries, first in the U.S. and then around the world. In 1996 a gallery in New York released a book of the drawings, and other artwork, entitled G.B. Jones, with commentaries by Kevin Killian, Dodie Bellamy, Dennis Cooper and others. Although widely available in the U.S. and Europe, copies were seized at the Canadian border and it was officially pronounced banned in Canada.

In 1991, Jones and a rotating roster of editors, including Jena von Brücker, Rex, Johnny Noxzema, Caroline Azar and several others began releasing the often contentious zine Double Bill, frequently referred to as an 'anti-zine' or 'hatezine' (as opposed to 'fan'-zine), a new category in the self-publishing world. Five issues were produced, the last one in 2001.

[edit] 2000s

In the early 2000s, Jones began turning her attention to other subject matter in her drawings. Her work now explored darker themes: surreal lollipops; ruined buildings; car crashes; and the religious and pagan imagery of the record cover she produced for the Hidden Cameras' EP the arms of his 'ill' . Her most recent exhibition was in 2009, when G.B. showed her work in the show Smell It! at Kunsthalle Exnergasse in Austria.

G.B. Jones appears briefly, dressed in black and wielding a knife, at the end of The Hidden Cameras video I Believe In The Good of Life which appeared in 2005.

In 2002, Fifth Column's last release appeared on the Kill Rock Stars compilation album Fields and Streams. In October 2007, Jones' newest musical endeavor was unveiled. The recording Raise Your Paw To The Sky And Break The Truce by the Italian dark ambient group Mariae Nascenti was released on the Final Muzik label, with G.B. Jones appearing as a guest vocalist.

Jones' work has appeared in a wide variety of media including film, fanzines, magazines, books, comics anthologies, posters, t-shirts, and on record, cassette and CDs, and their covers. As well, her drawings have been shown in art galleries and museums, and her films at film festivals, throughout Europe, Canada and the United States.

Jones' film The Lollipop Generation, which had been a work-in-progress for 13 years, had its premiere on April 3, 2008 at the Images Festival in Toronto.^[3]

[edit] Personal life

G. B. Jones was born in Bowmanville, Ontario and is openly bisexual.^[4] She is of Irish, Scottish, and Dutch descent.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Filmography

• The Lollipop Generation, directed by G.B. Jones (2008)
• I Believe In The Good Of Life, video for The Hidden Cameras, directed by Joel Gibb (2005)
• She's Real, Worse Than Queer, directed by Lucy Thane (1997)
• Cross Your Heart, directed by Suzy Richter (1993)
• The Yo-Yo Gang, directed by G.B. Jones (1992)
• No Skin Off My Ass, directed by Bruce LaBruce (1991)
• The Troublemakers, directed by G.B. Jones (1990)
• Boy, Girl, directed by Bruce LaBruce (1987)
• Fifth Column at the Funnel, directed by John Porter (1985)

[edit] Bibliography

• Cinematic folds: the furling and unfurling of images, edited by Firoza Elavia, Pleasure Dome, 2008, ISBN 9780968211540

• The Book of Boy Trouble 2: Born to Trouble, Robert Kirby and David Kelly, editors, Green Candy Press, 2008 ISBN 978-1931160650

• Juicy Mother 2: How They Met, edited by Jennifer Camper, Manic D Press, 2007 ISBN 978-1-933149-20-2

• The Salivation Army Black Book by Scott Treleaven, Printed Matter Inc./Art Metropole, 2006, ISBN 0-89439-021-X

• Juicy Mother, edited by Jennifer Camper, Soft Skull Press, 2005, ISBN 1-932360-70-0

• Boy Trouble, Robert Kirby and David Kelly editors, Boy Trouble Books, 2004, ISBN 0-9748855-0-9

• What's Wrong? Explicit Graphic Interpretations Against Censorship, edited by Robin Fisher, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2002, ISBN 1-55152-136-9

• Dangerous Drawings, edited by Andrea Juno, Juno Books, 1997, ISBN 0-9651042-8-1

• G.B. Jones, edited by Steve LaFreniere, Feature Publications, 1996

• Discontents, edited by Dennis Cooper, Amethyst Press, 1992, ISBN 0-927200-10-4

• Double Bill, edited by Caroline Azar, Jena von Brücker, G.B. Jones, Johnny Noxzema, Rex, Issues 1-5, 1991 to 2001

• J.D.s, edited by G.B. Jones and Bruce LaBruce, Issues 1-8, 1985 to 1991

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ http://cmagazine-sf5.blogspot.com/2009/03/gb-jones.html
2. ^ http://www.jennywoolworth.ch/deardiary/2009/03/lollipop-generation-gb-jones/
3. ^ Liss, Sarah (2008-04-02), "The Lollipop Generation", Eye Weekly, http://www.eyeweekly.com/music/streetspirit/article/22903 
4. ^ G. B. Jones, http://www.queer-arts.org/archive/show3/jones/jones.html, retrieved 2008-11-17 

[edit] Further reading

• Spencer, Amy; DIY: The Rise Of Lo-Fi, Marion Boyars Publishers, London, England, 2005 ISBN 0-7145-3105-7

[edit] External links

• Zürvana: The Official Website of Antonin Alexander and G. B. Jones
• G.B. Jones on YouTube
• G.B. Jones at ZineWiki
• Official G.B. Jones My Space
• G.B. Jones at Paul Petro Contemporary Art in Toronto
• Article about The Lollipop Generation at Images Festival
• The Yo-Yo Gang at IMDb
• Article about The Troublemakers
• Review of G.B. Jones Toronto exhibition
• "Pink Steam" art exhibition in San Francisco, July 2004 Webcite archive link
• The Maze by G.B. Jones at Hex Magazine
• Illustration by G.B. Jones for Electricity by Antonin Alexander at the Anton LaVey Memorial Site