Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is a moving, complex character who over time journeys through genres, histories, fads, and trends with an odd sort of grace. Founding member of Throbbing Gristle then Psychic TV, both cult bands of the experimental and industrial scene of the 70s and 80s, largely unknown from the mainstream public – least of all from the contemporary art crowd – the artist nevertheless enjoys a raving, fervent fame in the New York performance scene, along with h/er extreme artistic experiments. S/he has become, since the death of Lady Jane, h/er second wife, an entity described as an “amalgam” of their two selves in one body, an icon, a fascinating being who puts h/erself on display and plays with h/er double personality; a passionate appetite has recently grown centered on photographs of h/er troubling, hybrid beauty. This modest volume did not succumb to the temptation of images, but opened itself to texts from the artist h/erself: poems on the razor’s edge, terribly perceptive and right, with a familiar closeness and simplicity. The reader follows the artist’s hand, trembling yet remaining strong, which draws from a double energy as well as a kind of rage, filled with the urge to fight against a reactionary, light-less society.
Art Book Magazine