Kembra Pfahler

Kembra Pfahler

BornNationalityBased In
1961AmericanNew York City
Biography

Kembra Pfahler (b. 1961, Hermosa Beach, CA, US) lives and works in New York, US. Pfahler is a legendary figure of New York’s underground scene. With a practice spanning music, performance, acting, film and visual arts since the 1980s, the image vocabulary she has built informs the countercultural aesthetics of the Lower East Side. Drawing references from monstrous fetishistic femininity and Japanese Noh theatre, she founded a death-rock band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. The band’s cult performances incorporate handmade costumes and props created along the lines of her philosophy of availabism – making use of what’s available – with the aim of fostering a radical view of femininity and beauty. The ceremonial treatment of her body in transgressive acts continues to mark the contemporary cultural landscape through her collaborations in film, photography and fashion. ...

Selected Artworks
Aplomb; Flying Girls of Karen Black
Kembra Pfahler
Aplomb; Flying Girls of Karen Black, 2020
56.2 x 56.2cm
Butt Print Calling Mr Twilight VII (red, green, black)
Kembra Pfahler
Butt Print Calling Mr Twilight VII (red, green, black), 2019
76.5 x 57cm
Fear of a Karen Black Planet
Kembra Pfahler
Fear of a Karen Black Planet, 1994
69.7 x 57.9 x 3.2cm
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black Costume Drawings III
Kembra Pfahler
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black Costume Drawings III, 2023
45 x 37 x 3cm
Isis Water
Kembra Pfahler
Isis Water, 1998
73.5 x 58 x 3.2cm
Gallery Representation
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