Karen Finley's guest appearances

Karen Finley

Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Helga

KUCI: Weekly Signals

Poptarts

The Alison Arngrim Show

Alumni

Debbie Millman

Elizabeth Alexander

Krista Tippett

Caroline Paul

Amber Tamblyn

Jacqueline Woodson

Antwaun Sargent

Steven Pinker

Jason Reynolds

Thelma Golden

Sarah Jones

Amanda Palmer

Alain De Botton

Adam Grant

Nicholson Baker

OwlTail

Karen Finley reflects on her legendary performance pieces, censorship and decades of groundbreaking work—and the sheer joy in creating art.

Karen Finley reflects on her legendary performance pieces, censorship and decades of groundbreaking work—and the sheer joy in creating art.

Best of Design Matters: Karen Finley

"I love to hear humans just gathering and talking and being and making lots of noise. I like to do that too...just being, and making yourself known and present."Author and performing artist Karen Finley spoke with Helga Davis about the evolution of her early work and what she wants to give her audience now.  Karen Finley is an artist, performer, and author. She is an interdisciplinary artist working in performance, text, sound, music, poetics, film and video, installation, public and social practice art. Born in Chicago she received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her raw and transgressive performances have brought debate, censorship and controversy. Finley was the named plaintiff for the Supreme Court case Finley v. NEA that challenged the decency provision in government grants to artists through the National Endowment for the Arts. Her performances and visual art have been presented internationally such as the Barbican in London, Lincoln Center, New York City, MOMA, the Bobino in Paris, amongst others. Finley is interested in freedom of expression concerns, social justice, gender and sexuality, visual culture, art education, metaphysics and lectures, and gives workshops widely. She is the author of nine books, including her latest, Grabbing Pussy ( OR Books 2018) and the 25th anniversary edition of Shock Treatment by City Lights. Reality Shows Feminist Press 2010) A recipient of many awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, she is an arts professor in Art and Public Policy at New York University. Follow her on Instagram @the_yam_mam Karen Finley is a commissioned artist featured in the Armory’s 100 Years |100 Women Project. The Coda includes a reading of "Pussy Speak Out" from Grabbing Pussy by Karen Finley.

"I love to hear humans just gathering and talking and being and making lots of noise. I like to do that too...just being, and making yourself known and present." Author and performing artist Karen Finley spoke with Helga Davis about the evolution of her early work and what she wants to give her audience now.  Karen Finley is an artist, performer, and author. She is an interdisciplinary artist working in performance, text, sound, music, poetics, film and video, installation, public and social practice art. Born in Chicago she received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her raw and transgressive performances have brought debate, censorship and controversy. Finley was the named plaintiff for the Supreme Court case Finley v. NEA that challenged the decency provision in government grants to artists through the National Endowment for the Arts. Her performances and visual art have been presented internationally such as the Barbican in London, Lincoln Center, New York City, MOMA, the Bobino in Paris, amongst others. Finley is interested in freedom of expression concerns, social justice, gender and sexuality, visual culture, art education, metaphysics and lectures, and gives workshops widely. She is the author of nine books, including her latest, Grabbing Pussy ( OR Books 2018) and the 25th anniversary edition of Shock Treatment by City Lights. Reality Shows Feminist Press 2010) A recipient of many awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, she is an arts professor in Art and Public Policy at New York University. Follow her on Instagram @the_yam_mam Karen Finley is a commissioned artist featured in the Armory’s <a href="https://www.100years100women.net/participants/project-one-y4299-xd3fm-h2xpb-c7ctb-37ad5-nkgn2-dzcx8-y4rwh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">100 Years |100 Women </a>Project. The Coda includes a reading of "Pussy Speak Out" from Grabbing Pussy by Karen Finley.

Karen Finley


Karen Finley started out performing feminist monologues full of vitriol and fury in the punk clubs of the Bay Area in the late 70s. By the 80s, she’d moved to New York where she was a regular at legendary performance venues like Danceteria. And then in 1990, she became a household name as part of the NEA FOUR—a group of four performance artists whose National Endowment for the Arts funding was revoked because conservative Senator Jesse Helms had a hissy fit about decency. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court in 1998 in National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley and Karen Finley became an icon of the struggle for free speech. She’s a professor of Art and Public Policy at New York University and in this episode of BUST’s Poptarts podcast she unleashes on the current administrations and provides creative guidance for feminists trying to keep our heads up in the time of Trump.

Poptarts Episode 55: Karen Finley!

Bruce Yonemoto

Bruce Yonemoto, 1979, and Karen Finley

Karen Finley Interview