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Vaj (street artist)

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Vaj
Known forstreet art
Movementfeminist street art
Websitehttp://www.vajstreetart.blog.com

Vaj, also known as Vaj Graff, is a feminist street artist based in Bristol, UK. Active as a feminist graffiti artist since July 2015, her style is similar to Banksy. In January 2016, she controversially added legs and pubic hair to the Queen Victoria statue in College Green, Bristol. This was removed within 24 hours by the local council. Her art has a feminist purpose in an area dominated by men.

Background

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Vaj is also known as VAJ, Vaj Graff and Vaj DGAF.[1][2][3][4][5] Vaj herself rejects Vaj Graff, claiming the name is used by the media to identify her because it is her Twitter handle. She said no one calls her that.[4]

Her identity is unknown,[6] but she is a 26-year-old living [when?] in Fishponds, Bristol.[1][2][3] She has a criminal record.[6]

Art

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Her work uses a style of stencilling similar to Banksy.[7][8] It often features female genitalia that appear on buildings and monuments.[9][10] She became active as a graffiti artist in July 2015, with her early work getting little attention.[9]

Vaj claims to have started her street art work when she was five years old after witnessing a boy draw cocks in the playground using chalk on the sidewalk. She went over to where he was and did something similar.[1]

She was one of several artists featured in the satirical documentary, The Art Bastard Show.[11][12] Other artists in the documentary included Vicky Yentob, Toby Glass and, vegan taxidermist Lily Rose.[11][12] The film was screened at the No Gloss Film Festival 2016.[13] She has never had a fine arts exhibit of her work.[6]

Queen Victoria statue

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On a Thursday evening in early January 2016, Vaj controversially added legs and pubic hair to the Queen Victoria statue in College Green, Bristol.[14][15][2][16][17][18][19][20] The act took place in daylight hours, with passersby taking pictures of the artist making the addition.[21] The addition to the statue was removed within 24 hour of being added.[22][21] A petition was created to urging Vaj to apologize for her work.[9] Another petition was created requesting her work be brought back.[7][9]

Local artist graffiti artist Gary Locke criticized her work, saying, "Says a lot about Bristol these days [that] a vandal can go about defacing a historical statue in the centre of Bristol in broad daylight and not one bystander tried to stop it or report it. Shameful. [...] What sort of city are we becoming?" [22] Heather McGowan and Myla Lloyd criticized her work compared to Banksy's, saying that it lacked a political message. That one needed to go to the artists website to understand the political message was given as evidence for this lack despite Vaj's assertions elsewise.[23]

Vaj said her intention was not to degenerate national heritage.[24] Responding to criticisms of the defacement of the statue, the artist said "If Banksy’s allowed to paint a naked man hanging out a window of a sex clinic, then why can’t Queen Vic be seen in all her glory?"[25] She also said, "“A lot of haters out there calling it vandalism. It ain’t vandalism. It’s a statement. Stand tall. Stand proud and love the vaj.”[2] Vaj told FEMAIL that Bristol lacks female street artists, and the quick removal was an example of sexism. She was quoted by the publication Bristol 24/7 as saying of the quick removal, "'Other side of the street from Queen Vic is a Banksy cock, a naked man with his cock out and cos it's a Banksy the council are lovin it."[26] She also pointed out that while Banksy's street art was protected, her similar work was criminalized.[7]

Feminist aspects

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Her art has a feminist purpose,[27][3][9] and she has said she is on a mission to address the gender inequalities in street art.[1][22][4][9][28][29] She told the Bristol Post, "The art world is male dominated. Fact. Street art is male dominated. Fact. So I've got to represent. I've got to redress the balance. [...] Queen Vic was a power woman. She was the original feminist and she was proud. All I did was show her how she wanted to be seen. What's so offensive about that?"[27] Her work also brings attention to double standards in the art world.[1] "They (Daily Mail) are saying my Vaj is offensive but when you look down the side of that site what do you see?" Graff asked. "Women with their tits out ... Double standards are everywhere."[1]

Her artwork faced criticism from feminists,[9][23][10][3] even as male street artists paint female genitalia and get praised for their feminist themed works.[3][10] Myla Lloyd is one such feminist critic, saying there were a number of well known female graffiti artists and everyone knew that Queen Victoria had female genitalia.[23] Vaj has said that male artists spraying painting penises is about demarking space as intrinsically male.[1] Women painting women in this way also serves as a reminder that women exist.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Solls, Marie (14 January 2016). "Meet the Feminist Street Artist Who Gave a Queen Victoria Statue a Makeover". Mic.com. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Neuendorf, Henri (12 January 2016). "Feminist Street Artist Draws Genitals on Queen Victoria Monument". artnet.com. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e Sprankles, Julie (22 January 2016). "Feminist Street Artist Vaj Graff Painted A Vulva On A Statue Of Queen Victoria To Fight The Patriarchy". Bustle. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Des vagins dans les rues de Bristol – Rencontre avec la street-artiste Vaj". SousLaJupe Webzine Paris (in French). 11 February 2016. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Vendicare il femminismo, anche nella street art. E a Bristol la statua della Regina Vittoria viene dotata di genitali, scatenando le polemiche". Exibart (in Italian). 18 January 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  6. ^ a b c "The Artists". Three Artists, One Curator and a Ball of Masking Tape. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Cassano, Olivia (15 January 2016). "A feminist street artist is painting vulvas on Queen Victoria". Konbini United Kingdom. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  8. ^ Pontani, Filippomaria (31 May 2016). "Le contraddizioni della Street Art" [The contradictions of Street Art]. Il Post (in Italian). Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Kordic, Angie. "Have you heard of Bristol-based Feminist Street Artist Vaj Graff ?". WideWalls. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d "Féministes – Détourner le sexe". Deuxieme Temps (in French). 12 July 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Video: The Art Bastard Show". Bristol 24/7. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  12. ^ a b Holder, Stephen (27 September 2016). "Report of the Head of Elections, Licensing and Registration, Report to the Licensing Sub Committee" (PDF). Leeds City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  13. ^ "WATCH: The Art Bastard Show (UK) - Trailer - Leeds Independent Film Festival". No/Gloss Film Festival UK. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  14. ^ Allegreti, Audrey (8 January 2016). "Bristol's Queen Victoria Statue Gets X-Rated Makeover By Feminist Graffiti Artist". Huffington Post. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  15. ^ "One would not be impressed - Bristol's Queen Victoria statue gets X-rated make-over". Bristol Post. Retrieved 10 January 2016.[dead link]
  16. ^ "Queen Victoria gets Vaj-ed". Bristol 24/7. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  17. ^ Martinez, Alanna (12 January 2016). "Artist Draws Genitals on Queen Victoria, Fans Mourn at David Bowie Exhibit—and More". Observer. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  18. ^ "Queen Victoria Left Blushing". Sam FM. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  19. ^ Уличная художница раздела королеву Викторию [Street artist section of Queen Victoria]. HUDRUK. (in Russian). 12 January 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  20. ^ 英女藝術家在女王雕像上塗鴉裸腿和陰毛 [British woman artist inserts bare legs and pubic hair graffiti to Queen (Victoria) statue] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 28 November 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  21. ^ a b "Bristol graffiti artist defaced Queen Victoria's statue and drawing 'naked bottom half'". Somerset Live. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.[dead link]
  22. ^ a b c Shammas, John (11 January 2016). "Queen Victoria statue defaced with female genitalia by graffiti artist". Mirror. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  23. ^ a b c McGowan, Heather McGowan; Lloyd, Myla (12 April 2016). "Debate: Is vigilante public art an effective means of protest?". Epigram. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  24. ^ Уличная художница-феминистка добавила пикантности памятнику королеве Виктории [Street artist feminist added spice to the Queen Victoria Monument]. ONLINE.UA (in Ukrainian). 14 January 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  25. ^ Martinez, Alanna (12 January 2016). "Artist Draws Genitals on Queen Victoria, Fans Mourn at David Bowie Exhibit—and More". The Observer. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  26. ^ "Street artist Vaj responds to critics". Bristol 24/7. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  27. ^ a b Prideaux, S (24 May 2016). "Bristol's most controversial street art". Bristol Post. Retrieved 8 March 2017.[dead link]
  28. ^ Женский протест: Два феминистских перформанса в один день (in Russian). 13 January 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  29. ^ Shan, Shi (石姗) (13 January 2016). 女艺术家在英国女王雕像上涂鸦裸腿和阴毛. Phoenix New Media (in Chinese). Retrieved 8 March 2017.
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