The full history of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and her varied seminal musical exploits of the past three decades as well as her soclo-cultural adventures would easily fill a book. Soft Skull/Shortwave Books published “Painful but Fabulous: The Lives and Art of Genesis P-Orridge” in 2003 and more recently with “Thee Psychick Bible” in hardcover in 2009 and paperback in 2010). Genesis continues to exhibit artwork around the world. Most recently at Art Basel, Miami, The Serpentine Gallery, London and a career retrospective at The Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. H/er most current exhibition “Try To Altar Everything” just wrapped this month at The Rubin Museum in New York City.
Already living a creative further chapter of h/er “life” book Genesis continues to provoke and explore in her very public private life; from replacing all her healthy teeth with solid gold permanent replicas in an homage to Pierre Clemente in Luis Bunuel’s “Belle De Jour.” Littering the dictionary and culture with new words for new, original ideas Genesis can be said to follow the serious process and joy-filled strategy of “When there is no example imagine it, when there is no word for it, invent one.”
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is the legendary English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance, and visual artist. P-Orridge rose to notability as founder of the COUM Transmissions art collective, which operated in Britain from 1969 to 1976. P-Orridge fronted the pioneering industrial band Throbbing Gristle between 1975 and 1981 and the experimental multimedia commonage PsychicTV from 1981 to present. In 1996, P-Orridge and partner Jackie “Lady Jaye” Breyer P-Orridge embarked on the Pandrogyne Project. P-Orridge currently performs within he/r spoken word project, Thee Majesty, and the most current incarnation of Psychic TV labeled PTV3. Collaborators include Aaron Dilloway, Merzbow, Tony Conrad, William S. Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Monte Cazazza, Hafler Trio, White Stains, Z’ev, and countless others. P-Orridge’s visual works have been exhibited in hundreds of exhibitions across the world over the past 46 years, recently culminating in retrospectives at the Andy Warhol Museum and the Rubin Museum of Art.
