Continuing New York City's long history of drag performance, cabaret, and experimental theatre, singer and artist ANOHNI led the Blacklips Performance Cult in a hilarious, maximalist, over-the-top, weekly set of performances at the Pyramid Club in the East Village. From 1992 to 1995, ANOHNI and her group, which eventually grew to 13 core members, put on happenings and performances, reimagining the birth of Anne Frank, and other surreal, nonlinear performances that defied expectation. Members of the Blacklips eventually went on to form one of ANOHNI's first bands, Antony and the Johnsons. That legendary time is now the center focus of a new book, Blacklips: Her Life, and Her Many, Many Deaths, by ANOHNI and Marti Wilkerson, and a 2xLP compilation: Blacklips Bar: Androgyns and Deviants — Industrial Romance for Bruised and Battered Angels, 1992–1995 on this unofficial residency. In this evening event celebrating Blacklips Performance Cult, ANOHNI and Marti Wilkerson, co-editors of the book, speak with Laurie Anderson about the release of the book and the album compilation, along with a showing of original photos and footage of the group's performances. Writer Lia Gangitano, director of Participant Inc. and the exhibition Blacklips: 13 Ways to Die, will also interview members of the Cult to solicit their firsthand stories, reflections, and memories of the Blacklips phenomenon.
New York City, NY; NYC