Kembra Pfahler's 'The Wall of Vagina' Performance at The Hole Gallery in New York

On Monday, June 27, 2011, The Hole gallery at 312 Bowery in New York City hosted a performance titled 'The Wall of Vagina' by The Girls of Karen Black (GOKB). The event occurred one day after the city's Gay Pride Parade. Kembra Pfahler, lead singer of The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, participated alongside GOKB members including Bijoux Altamirano and transgender member Siobhan Meow. The performance featured five women painted in red, blue, or purple, wearing thigh-high stiletto boots and towering wigs, who piled facedown on a platform in a spread-eagle formation. A turkey baster filled with thick white cream was squirted onto the pile, merging themes of infection and sexuality. Pfahler described the work as making fun of female sexuality and rejecting standards of feminine beauty, preferring titles like Anti-naturalist and Availabist over 'performance artist'. The gallery's proprietor, Kathy Grayson, a former director of Deitch Projects, aims to provide space for artists displaced by Deitch's closure. The performance was part of the gallery's current exhibition ':)', the first NYC solo show by Miami duo FriendsWithYou, featuring inflatable beings and cartoonish sculptures. Pfahler's latest album 'Fuck Island' is set for release in October 2011. The event attracted a crowd described as sexy misfits, with cell phones capturing the action, and ended with attendees mingling in the gallery.