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.

Emalin

New York City

Hermosa Beach

Simone Subal Gallery

Berlin

Noah Klink

Brussels

Mendes Wood Dm

Antwerpen

PLUS-ONE Gallery

The Hole

No Gallery

Philadelphia

Vox Populi Gallery

Palm Beach

Gavlak

Mx Gallery

Mexico City

Yautepec Gallery

Jeffrey Deitch

Chapter NY

London

Miami

Bas Fisher Invitational

Company Gallery

Paris

Centre Pompidou

Participant Inc

Kw Institute For Contemporary Art

Moscow

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art

Torrance

Torrance Art Museum

Whitney Museum of American Art

Swiss Institute

Kembra Pfahler

School Of Visual Arts

Isis Water

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black Costume Drawings III

Fear of a Karen Black Planet

Butt Print Calling Mr Twilight VII (red, green, black)

Aplomb; Flying Girls of Karen Black