Ella Guru
Encyclopedia
Ella Guru is an American painter and musician living in London. She was a member of Mambo Taxi
and the Voodoo Queens
. In 1999, she became one of the founding members of the Stuckist
art movement.
, USA. She did a commercial art course at Fort Hayes Career Center (1982–84) and attended Columbus College of Art and Design (1984–86), which she left because of "all the conceptual crap". She graduated in fine arts from Ohio State University
(1988–89), where she received the Visual Arts Award.
1990–91, she worked as a go-go dancer and stripper, and travelled to Africa and India, then for the next year lived an Islamic lifestyle in an Algerian household in Islington
, London, where she was a waitress in a Mexican restaurant. She has lived in London since this time. In 1996, she rode a bicycle to Lithuania
, and met Sexton Ming
in London, after borrowing his lipstick. In 1997, she worked as a web site designer. In 2001, she married Ming on a Dorset cliff top; they wore drag
. Her daughter Lucy was born in 2004.
She has been an habituée of fetish clubs, where she used to spank men, whom she terms "Tory politicians". She had lunch in New York with Quentin Crisp
, who said she was "weird". Guru's pseudonym is taken from a Captain Beefheart
song on the album Trout Mask Replica
.
, linked with Riot Grrrl
. The inspiration for the band came from UK garage rock and US punk, and their sound was a mixture of garage, punk, and pop. The name was a reference to the Mambo Taxi used by the heroine of the film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
. Guru in an interview with NME’s Sam Stallard in 1992, said the name was "tacky", and "with all sorts of different things in it that sort of clash, but everything’s useful as well as fun."
In late 1992, drummer Anjali Bhatia left Mambo Taxi to start the Voodoo Queens
, along with Guru and others. After their first concert, they were offered a Peel session by BBC
DJ, John Peel
. This was recorded in January 1993. Other radio and TV appearances followed, including a further two Peel Sessions, and a busking
competition against Boyzone
on Channel 4's music and arts programme Naked City. The group reached number one in the Indie chart
in 1993. Guru was replaced on bass guitar in 1994.
She has played in The Deptford Beach Babes, and also with her partner, Sexton Ming
, in his band, The Tasty Ones.
Guru started painting seriously again in 1997. In 1999, she was one of the thirteen founder members of the pro-figurative painting Stuckists
, an anti-conceptual art
and pro-figurative painting
art movement founded by Charles Thomson
and Billy Childish
. She started the Stuckist web site, stuckism.com:
Thomson said that most of the Stuckist groups made their first contact through the site and that Stuckism was "the first significant art movement to spread via the Internet." In 2000, she took part in the first Stuckist demonstration
against the Turner Prize
at Tate Britain
, and has done so in later years also.
In 2004, she was one of the fourteen artists in the "founder and featured" section of The Stuckists Punk Victorian
show held at the Walker Art Gallery
for the Liverpool Biennial
. In 2006, she was one of the ten "leading Stuckists" in the Go West
exhibition at Spectrum London
gallery.
s, although they are not necessarily her model for painting; she also appreciates untrained artists who show invention in their work. She spent three years painting life models at art college, which gave her much of the grounding for her approach to art.
Her paintings take anywhere between two days and two years to complete, and usually start by her "going out and getting pissed with my friends", when she takes the photographs which provide the initial ideas, although the images she works from are often "very bad, dark, fuzzy photos", necessitating subsequent real life studies as well as imaginative interpretation. The initial layout is done with a line drawing, but the aim is to achieve a finished result where the subject appears three-dimensional. She has talked about an irrational obsession with shapes, such as those of wigs, which have always fascinated her.
Her painting, The Queen's Speech had its origin in Pennsylvania in the house of a friend, with whom Guru has collaborated for a number of years in setting up suitable scenes for photographs by dressing people in costume. This particular scene, showing Guru's husband, Sexton Ming, was the friend's idea. A photograph was the starting point for the painting, which was not started until Guru's return to London, but it was augmented by life studies and also the addition of extra items, such as the bottle of absinthe
.
Mambo Taxi
Mambo Taxi were a London based British band that were linked with Riot Grrrl, who formed in 1991 and split up in 1995.-History:Mambo Taxi were inspired by the UK garage rock scene and US punk. Their sound was a mixture of garage, punk, and pop and they also had links to British riot grrrl bands...
and the Voodoo Queens
Voodoo Queens
The Voodoo Queens were a North London-based girl group, who reached number one in the Indie Charts in 1993.-History:The band composed of Anjali Bhatia , Ella Guru , Stefania Lucchesini , Rajni Bhatia and Anjula Bhasker...
. In 1999, she became one of the founding members of the Stuckist
Stuckism
Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art...
art movement.
Life
Ella Guru was born in OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, USA. She did a commercial art course at Fort Hayes Career Center (1982–84) and attended Columbus College of Art and Design (1984–86), which she left because of "all the conceptual crap". She graduated in fine arts from Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
(1988–89), where she received the Visual Arts Award.
1990–91, she worked as a go-go dancer and stripper, and travelled to Africa and India, then for the next year lived an Islamic lifestyle in an Algerian household in Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, London, where she was a waitress in a Mexican restaurant. She has lived in London since this time. In 1996, she rode a bicycle to Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, and met Sexton Ming
Sexton Ming
Sexton Ming is a British artist, poet and musician who was a founding member of The Medway Poets and the Stuckists art group .-Life and career:...
in London, after borrowing his lipstick. In 1997, she worked as a web site designer. In 2001, she married Ming on a Dorset cliff top; they wore drag
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
. Her daughter Lucy was born in 2004.
She has been an habituée of fetish clubs, where she used to spank men, whom she terms "Tory politicians". She had lunch in New York with Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp , was an English writer and raconteur. He became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant.- Early life :...
, who said she was "weird". Guru's pseudonym is taken from a Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
song on the album Trout Mask Replica
Trout Mask Replica
Trout Mask Replica is the third album by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released in June 1969. Produced by Beefheart's friend and former schoolmate Frank Zappa, it was originally released as a double album on Zappa's Straight Records label...
.
Music
In the early 1990s, Guru was a guitarist in the London-based British band, Mambo TaxiMambo Taxi
Mambo Taxi were a London based British band that were linked with Riot Grrrl, who formed in 1991 and split up in 1995.-History:Mambo Taxi were inspired by the UK garage rock scene and US punk. Their sound was a mixture of garage, punk, and pop and they also had links to British riot grrrl bands...
, linked with Riot Grrrl
Riot grrrl
Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...
. The inspiration for the band came from UK garage rock and US punk, and their sound was a mixture of garage, punk, and pop. The name was a reference to the Mambo Taxi used by the heroine of the film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas...
. Guru in an interview with NME’s Sam Stallard in 1992, said the name was "tacky", and "with all sorts of different things in it that sort of clash, but everything’s useful as well as fun."
In late 1992, drummer Anjali Bhatia left Mambo Taxi to start the Voodoo Queens
Voodoo Queens
The Voodoo Queens were a North London-based girl group, who reached number one in the Indie Charts in 1993.-History:The band composed of Anjali Bhatia , Ella Guru , Stefania Lucchesini , Rajni Bhatia and Anjula Bhasker...
, along with Guru and others. After their first concert, they were offered a Peel session by BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
DJ, John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
. This was recorded in January 1993. Other radio and TV appearances followed, including a further two Peel Sessions, and a busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
competition against Boyzone
Boyzone
Boyzone are an Irish boy band comprising Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating,Shane Lynch, and formerly Stephen Gately. Boyzone have 19 singles in the top 40 UK charts and 21 singles in the Ire charts. The group currently have 6 UK number one singles and 9 number one singles in Ireland with 12...
on Channel 4's music and arts programme Naked City. The group reached number one in the Indie chart
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
in 1993. Guru was replaced on bass guitar in 1994.
She has played in The Deptford Beach Babes, and also with her partner, Sexton Ming
Sexton Ming
Sexton Ming is a British artist, poet and musician who was a founding member of The Medway Poets and the Stuckists art group .-Life and career:...
, in his band, The Tasty Ones.
Stuckism
Stuckism
Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art...
, an anti-conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
and pro-figurative painting
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
art movement founded by Charles Thomson
Charles Thomson (artist)
Charles Thomson is an English artist, painter, poet and photographer. In the early 1980s he was a member of The Medway Poets. In 1999 he named and co-founded the Stuckists art movement with Billy Childish. He has curated Stuckist shows, organised demonstrations against the Turner Prize, run an art...
and Billy Childish
Billy Childish
Billy Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...
. She started the Stuckist web site, stuckism.com:
Thomson said that most of the Stuckist groups made their first contact through the site and that Stuckism was "the first significant art movement to spread via the Internet." In 2000, she took part in the first Stuckist demonstration
Stuckist demonstrations
Stuckist demonstrations since 2000 have been a key part of the Stuckist art group's activities and have succeeded in giving them a high profile both in Britain and abroad...
against the Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
at Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
, and has done so in later years also.
In 2004, she was one of the fourteen artists in the "founder and featured" section of The Stuckists Punk Victorian
The Stuckists Punk Victorian
The Stuckists Punk Victorian was the first national gallery exhibition of Stuckist art. It was held at the Walker Art Gallery and Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool from 18 September 2004 to 20 February 2005, and was part of the 2004 Liverpool Biennial....
show held at the Walker Art Gallery
Walker Art Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England, outside of London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group, and is promoted as "the National Gallery of the North" because it is not a local or regional gallery but is part...
for the Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial is a British international festival of contemporary art held in Liverpool. The festival comprises the International Exhibition, the John Moores Painting Prize, the Bloomberg New Contemporaries Exhibition and the Independents Biennial....
. In 2006, she was one of the ten "leading Stuckists" in the Go West
Go West (exhibition)
Go West is the title of the first exhibition by Stuckist artists in a commercial London West End gallery. It was staged in Spectrum London gallery in October 2006...
exhibition at Spectrum London
Spectrum London
Spectrum London was a London art gallery which showed contemporary figurative painting, photography and sculpture. It staged Go West, the first commercial West End show of the Stuckists, and a retrospective by Sebastian Horsley...
gallery.
Painting
Guru has stated her concern with ability and technique, and her admiration for the work of Old MasterOld Master
"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
s, although they are not necessarily her model for painting; she also appreciates untrained artists who show invention in their work. She spent three years painting life models at art college, which gave her much of the grounding for her approach to art.
Her paintings take anywhere between two days and two years to complete, and usually start by her "going out and getting pissed with my friends", when she takes the photographs which provide the initial ideas, although the images she works from are often "very bad, dark, fuzzy photos", necessitating subsequent real life studies as well as imaginative interpretation. The initial layout is done with a line drawing, but the aim is to achieve a finished result where the subject appears three-dimensional. She has talked about an irrational obsession with shapes, such as those of wigs, which have always fascinated her.
Her painting, The Queen's Speech had its origin in Pennsylvania in the house of a friend, with whom Guru has collaborated for a number of years in setting up suitable scenes for photographs by dressing people in costume. This particular scene, showing Guru's husband, Sexton Ming, was the friend's idea. A photograph was the starting point for the painting, which was not started until Guru's return to London, but it was augmented by life studies and also the addition of extra items, such as the bottle of absinthe
Absinthe
Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel...
.
Further reading
- Ed. Katherine Evans (2000), "The Stuckists" Victoria Press, ISBN 0-907165-27-3