Summary
- Rizzoli traces the life and work of legendary performance artist and underground icon Kembra Pfahler
- The eponymous monograph, releasing March 17, presents four decades worth of archival material, photographs, illustrations and performance documentation
- Dover Street Market New York is will host a book launch event on March 20 featuring a talk and installation by the artist
Punk rockstar and performance artist Kembra Pfahler is getting her monograph moment. Published by Rizzoli, the upcoming title chronicles the life and work of the “godmother of modern day shock art,” through four decades worth of archival material, performance documentation, illustration and photography.
Nude, blackened teeth, painted head-to-toe, Pfahler is impossible to miss. She braids bondage and occult aesthetics into provocative interventions that challenge expectations of femininity and beauty, expanding the boundaries of performance art for decades to come. Beyond tantalizing art world audiences, she’s beloved in the fashion world, having served as a muse and model for Rick Owens, Marc Jacobs, Helmet Lang and, most recently, Supreme.
The forthcoming title traces Pfahler’s life and career, beginning with her arrival in New York’s Lower East Side in the 1980s. There, she took part in the underground Cinema of Transgression movement, establishing herself as a prominent visual artist, while working her daytime job as a dominatrix. Around this time, she also founded The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, the horror-inspired, glam punk rock band that she fronts.
By the 1990s and early oughts, Pfahler began translating elements of her cinematic practice into pieces better fit for a gallery. Spaces like The Hole and Jeffrey Deitch gave the floor to installations such as her famed butt-prints, and endurance-driven performance works, with inspirations ranging from Japanese Noh theater to West Coast surf culture.
Featuring contributions from curator Jeffrey Deitch, John Waters, Rick Owens and Anohni, the 336-page Kembra Pfahler will be available through Rizzoli and Dover Street Market starting March 17. On March 20, Dover Street Market New York will be hosting a talk and launch event with a special install at its main installation space dedicated to the artist.
