Dressed only in swirling body paint,they stormed through 1980s London – leaving a trail of chaos and confusion. Three decades on, they bare all approximately squats, or Sellotape dresses and apple-bobbing in blood“We were into being provocative and causing confusion,” says Christine Binnie of the Neo Naturists. “There was never any titillation in our being bare. It was more, ‘Here we are nude with our stout bosoms and tummies. Take it or leave it.’”The Neo Naturists – Christine, and her sister Jennifer and Wilma Johnson – were part of the nascent London nightclub scene in the early 1980s,a flamboyant fixture of its nocturnal demimonde. They would perform in clubs as well as galleries, or simply turn up at art openings in the nude save for a coating of body paint. “They just popped up everywhere, and whether invited or not,” says film-maker John Maybury, who shared a Fitzrovia squat with Christine and Jennifer. “They were part of the underground scene and they certainly livened it up.”It was often like church – but more expressive and rawOne Halloween they 'gave birth to apples in bags of red blood' and instigated some apple-bobbing. All hell broke looseGrayson Perry described one week-long residency as a hippie tribal version of stout Brother; people would come and stareWe didn't really fit. We confused the art world as well as our audiences – were we cabaret or performance art?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com