Hell-Raisers

Chainsaw & THE GIRL is an ongoing collaboration between artists BILLY CHAINSAW and GIRL SH*T, one that explores their shared love of MUSIC, SUBCULTURE and MAGICK. For their latest show HELL-RAISERS they deliver both solo and collaborative artworks that embrace the incendiary nature of limitless, boundary pushing individuals.

(Click on image to zoom in on a panoramic view of the show)

CHAINSAW says:
“The original wave of punk rock changed my life, empowered and transformed me into a tenacious individual able to pursue my dreams and become all the things I’d ever dreamt of becoming (and more): personal assistant to Siouxsie and The Banshees from 1979-1996, journalist, film critic, adult-magazine editor, actor, experimental filmmaker, club MC, singer, and dark pop artist. Now felt the optimum time to delve into that inspirational aspect of my past. I was able to do so thanks to a friend from 1978, Ray Stevenson, the first photographer to document punk rock in the UK – particularly the hell-raising Sex Pistols. Ray generously allowed me access to his archives and granted me permission to create artworks using his photos.”

GIRL SH*T says:
“My interest in the notion of ‘Hell Raisers’ is seeped in subculture and popular culture. What is a ‘Hell Raiser’? Here’s where it gets interesting. At the core it’s about complete freedom, to be without personal boundaries or censorship. Like the perception of the ‘Rock God’, the ‘Hell Raiser’ is generally a man. Envied for his freedom and celebrated for his virility dressed as bad behaviour. Women are usually punished for similar traits yet our history is crammed full of revolutionary women looking for the same freedoms. In this work I seek to celebrate these women… they are all of us…”

Showing in the Conclave Brighton basement exhibition space 27th August – 4th September 2022.