Kembra Pfahler
Encyclopedia
Kembra Pfahler is an American
performance artist, rock music
ian and actress. As a performance artist she has been recognized on every "Top 10 List" published during the past quarter century. Her graphic depictions of the horror, repetition, degradation, and sheer misery of the human condition have been recognized as insightfully accurate in art curricula globally. Her humanistically centered positions on Feminism and Post Beat Ban The Bomb Politics
has moved a generation.
She is best known as the lead singer of the cult glam
-punk band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black., and for the often sexual nature of her exhibits. She is well-known in fashion circles spanning the fine line between cult and haute.
scene, and has acted in low-budget horror
and softcore porn films.
Pfahler also does film and video work. She follows the artistic philosophy of availablism, using what is closest at hand as both the inspiration for her work as well as the medium.
by GG Allin
And The Murder Junkies.
In 1990, Kembra and Samoa Moriki founded their band, The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black.
Kembra's on-stage performances have included cracking paint filled eggs on her vulva.
The band's live performance of The Wall of Vagina appears on Disinformation DVD - The Complete Series.
curated a mixed-media art exhibition titled, Womanizer, at Deitch Projects
. The show included works by E. V. Day
, Breyer P-Orridge
, Vaginal Davis
and burlesque performer Bambi the Mermaid. Kembra's contribution was an installation with a bed set that contains a skeleton and several plush dolls in multiple colors surrounded by walls plastered and colored with a thick red paste, as well as a video that shows her ripping the dolls out of a birthing canal with blood spurting to a soundtrack.
As part of the 2008 Whitney Biennial
and with support from the Art Production Fund
, Pfahler and The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black gave a performance in the Park Avenue Armory's Drill Hall on March 14, 2008.
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
performance artist, rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
ian and actress. As a performance artist she has been recognized on every "Top 10 List" published during the past quarter century. Her graphic depictions of the horror, repetition, degradation, and sheer misery of the human condition have been recognized as insightfully accurate in art curricula globally. Her humanistically centered positions on Feminism and Post Beat Ban The Bomb Politics
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
has moved a generation.
She is best known as the lead singer of the cult glam
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
-punk band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black., and for the often sexual nature of her exhibits. She is well-known in fashion circles spanning the fine line between cult and haute.
Biography
Kembra, daughter of surf pioneer Freddy Pfahler, was a child actress who appeared in several TV commercials for Kodak film. She became a major figure of the 1980s East VillageEast Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
scene, and has acted in low-budget horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
and softcore porn films.
Pfahler also does film and video work. She follows the artistic philosophy of availablism, using what is closest at hand as both the inspiration for her work as well as the medium.
Music
Kembra sang backup on the song "Shoot, Knife, Strangle, Beat and Crucify" on the album Brutality And Bloodshed For AllBrutality and Bloodshed for All
Brutality and Bloodshed for All is the final studio album by GG Allin. Released in 1993, all of the songs on this album were written while Allin was in Jackson State Prison. Backing band was the Murder Junkies.-Style:...
by GG Allin
GG Allin
Kevin Michael "GG" Allin was an American punk rock singer-songwriter, who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. GG Allin is perhaps best remembered for his notorious live performances, which often featured transgressive acts, including coprophagia, self-mutilation, and...
And The Murder Junkies.
In 1990, Kembra and Samoa Moriki founded their band, The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black.
Kembra's on-stage performances have included cracking paint filled eggs on her vulva.
The band's live performance of The Wall of Vagina appears on Disinformation DVD - The Complete Series.
Performance art
In January 2007, Kembra, along with Julie Atlas MuzJulie Atlas Muz
Julie Atlas Muz is a New York City-based performance artist, dancer, burlesque artist, stage director, and actress....
curated a mixed-media art exhibition titled, Womanizer, at Deitch Projects
Deitch Projects
Deitch Projects was a contemporary art gallery in New York City founded by Jeffrey Deitch.-History:Since opening with a performance by Vanessa Beecroft in February 1996, the gallery has presented nearly one hundred and eighteen solo exhibitions and projects, ten thematic exhibitions, and a few...
. The show included works by E. V. Day
E. V. Day
E. V. Day is a New York based installation artist and sculptor. Day’s work explores themes of feminism and sexuality, while employing various suspension techniques and reflecting upon popular culture...
, Breyer P-Orridge
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...
, Vaginal Davis
Vaginal Davis
Vaginal Davis is an American genderqueer performing artist, painter, independent curator, composer, and writer. Davis's name is a homage to activist Angela Davis.-Life and career:Davis is often associated with the formation of the Queer-Core Zine Movement...
and burlesque performer Bambi the Mermaid. Kembra's contribution was an installation with a bed set that contains a skeleton and several plush dolls in multiple colors surrounded by walls plastered and colored with a thick red paste, as well as a video that shows her ripping the dolls out of a birthing canal with blood spurting to a soundtrack.
As part of the 2008 Whitney Biennial
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932, the first biennial was in 1973...
and with support from the Art Production Fund
Art Production Fund
The Art Production Fund is a non-profit organization that presents public art around the world, run by Yvonne Force Villareal and Doreen Remen. With the help of their director of operations, Casey Freemont, APF works to help artists create large-scale, difficult-to-produce works. The corporation...
, Pfahler and The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black gave a performance in the Park Avenue Armory's Drill Hall on March 14, 2008.
Personal life
Kembra was at one time married to her Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black co-founder Samoa Moriki,. Her brother is Adam Pfahler the drummer of the band JawbreakerJawbreaker (band)
Jawbreaker was an American punk rock band active from 1986 to 1996 and considered one of the most influential acts of the early-1990s emo movement...
.