Body paint, Super 8 films, furious smoking and substantial amounts of Becks beer took us all back to the 80s at last night’s (7 July) unveiling of Studio Voltaire’s The Neo Naturist exhibition (until 21 August). It is the first show in a public institution to celebrate the extraordinary contribution of the performance art group, established in 1981 by Christine Binnie, Jennifer Binnie and Wilma Johnson and involving pretty much everyone in the 80s scene: from Boy George to Leigh Bowery, John Maybury, Derek Jarman and Michael Clark. The founding trio were very much in evidence, having adorned themselves elaborately for the occasion in Sellotape cocktail dresses, vividly emblazoned with body paint which, as the evening went on and many embraces were exchanged, migrated onto the clothes of pretty much everyone present.
Many former Neo Naturist participants and supporters were also amongst the throng, including the collector and Studio Voltaire patron Valeria Napoleone; the artist and all-round icon Andrew Logan; the designer and former partner of Damien Hirst, Maia Norman; and the art dealer James Birch, who gave both Jennifer Binnie and Wilma Johnson—as well as former Neo Naturist Grayson Perry—their first shows.
As well as this landmark show, there will be more opportunity for body—and memory—baring at the ICA’s Night with the Neo Naturists on 24 August, which your correspondent notices is sponsored by Yana and Stephen Peel. Whether the newly appointed Serpentine Gallery CEO will be getting her kit off remains to be seen….
