Art by Jacqueline Frances
Jacq the Stripper, née Jacqueline Frances, is sounding stress-free, stretched out in a hammock on her deck in Upstate New York. Which is surprising—the stress-free part, that is—because her solo exhibition of paintings is just days away from opening. Unfazed, she seems at peace in the throes of chaos.
It’s been four years since Jacq gave us STRIPTASTIC!, the ingenious animated etiquette book for how to behave in a strip club and follow-up to her self-published memoir, The Beaver Show. Then in 2019 Hollywood came knocking. “Hello? Why, yes, Jennifer Lopez, I would love to consult on and appear in Hustlers.” (At least that’s how we imagine the conversation going.)
The outspoken and always hilarious performer, sex work advocate and author is an artist without boundaries, and Body of Work—a series of acrylics born in the pandemic—is perhaps her most intimate and introspective to date. We caught up with the Russian lit major in September, on the eve of her big show, to talk about art, inspiration and a pilot that HBO Max would be wise to bet on.
HUSTLER: So what’s on your to-do list for today?
JACQUELINE FRANCES: Literally 8,000 things. I have my art show opening on Thursday, and I’m producing it myself! So it’s a lot. But I finished my paintings yesterday, and now I’m wrapping everything I created in bubble wrap and running around in a mild panic trying to pack it all up.
