Bowman Gallery

Kembra Pfahler is an artist and rock musician, best known as the painted lead singer of The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, a theatrical band she co-founded in 1990. The band uses music, drawings and films to spread a clear message of love in a beautiful, touristic, anti-natual, fearless and happy way to dispel the antiquated notion that there is a hierarchy of artistic mediums. In her art and music, Pfahler follows the philosophy of availabism, making the best of what’s available. This is apparent in the low tech props and homemade costumes the Girls of Karen Black don on stage and which fill Pfahler’s exhibition installations. The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black has toured extensively since the 1990’s, and has recorded four classic rock albums. In 2006, The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black gave a conceptual concert, entitled Sound of Magic, at Deitch Projects. Recently, the Independent Film Channel produced a special film on the group called I Believe in Halloween.

Kembra Pfahler has exhibited in Womanizer at Deitch Projects in 2007, Heaven & Hell, a solo show Miami during Art Basel 2007, and It’s Not Only Rock & Roll, Baby, curated by Jerome Sans at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels during the summer of 2008. Pfahler’s participation in the 2008 Biennial included an installation at the Park Avenue Armory and a live concert titled Actresstocracy. Deitch Projects published a book on Kembra Pfahler, Beautalism, in celebration of her projects for the Biennial. She has had shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, The Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, and has shown in solo and group shows at Contemporary Fine Arts, Deitch Projects, The Hole Gallery in New York, Bowman Gallery pop-up Los Angeles, and File under “V” at Kenny Schachter Rove Gallery, in London. Her drawings are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.