The forthcoming book and its companion compilation will focus on history and impact of New York’s Blacklips Performance Cult.
ANOHNI and Marti Wilkerson have co-edited a new book that traces the legacy of Blacklips Performance Cult – the avant-garde art and theatre collective co-founded by ANOHNI in the midst of New York’s AIDS crisis in 1992. Entitled Blacklips: Her Life and Her Many, Many Deaths, the forthcoming book is slated for release on 14 March via Anthology Editions. It’s set to provide insight into the group’s story and archive through a collection of photos and scripts, as well as video recordings, texts and an introduction by Participant, Inc’s Lia Gangitano.
Announced today (1 February), the book will be accompanied by a compilation album featuring remastered original recordings from ANOHNI, as well as tracks from Joey Arias, Rozz Williams, Dave Vanian, Edith Massey, Leigh Bowery, Sissy Fit and more. Blacklips Bar: Androgyns and Deviants – Industrial Romance for Bruised and Battered Angels, 1992–1995 is slated for release on 10 March. The compilation leads with a pair of tracks from ANOHNI and James F. Murphy, entitled Rapture and Satan’s Li’l Lamb, respectively. ANOHNI designed and illustrated the double album vinyl edition of the upcoming album, which is available to pre-order here.
The Blacklips Performance Cult theatrical collective was founded alongside Johanna Constantine and Psychotic Eve in New York, creating space for punks, drag queens, students and more to create music, film and performance – and leave a mark on New York subculture and nightlife.
Listen to Rapture below and revisit our review of ANOHNI’s last solo release – 2017’s Paradise EP.