Kim Gordon

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Kim Gordon
Kim Gordon at Primavera Sound Festival in 2007. (Photo by Michael Morel)
Kim Gordon at Primavera Sound Festival in 2007. (Photo by Michael Morel)
Background information
Birth name Kim Althea Gordon
Born April 28, 1953 (1953-04-28) (age 54), Flag of United States Rochester, New York, USA
Genre(s) Alternative rock, noise rock
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, producer
Instrument(s) Vocals, Guitar, Bass
Years active 1981 - present
Label(s) Geffen
Associated
acts
Sonic Youth, Ciccone Youth, Mirror/Dash, Free Kitten, Harry Crews, CKM
Anixious Rats
Live in the Netherlands (with Sonic Youth), 1991
Live in the Netherlands (with Sonic Youth), 1991

Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is a musician, vocalist, and artist. She plays bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth. She also plays in the band Free Kitten with Julie Cafritz (of Pussy Galore), and she has collaborated with musicians such as Ikue Mori, DJ Olive, William Winant, Lydia Lunch, Alan Licht, and Chris Corsano.

Contents

  • 1 Early years
  • 2 Art World
  • 3 Trivia
  • 4 Notes

Early years

The daughter of a seamstress, Gordon was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in Los Angeles. She attended UCLA's art school. After graduating she moved to New York and joined the short-lived band CKM with Christine Hahn and Stanton Miranda. Through Stanton, Gordon met her future bandmates Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore. The three, along with a stream of drummers, formed Sonic Youth, originally called The Arcadians, in 1981. In 1984, she and Moore married. She gave birth to their daughter, Coco Hayley Gordon Moore, in 1994.

In 1989, Gordon, Sadie May, and Lydia Lunch formed Harry Crews and released the album Naked in Garden Hills. She also was one of the producers of Hole's first record, Pretty on the Inside, released in 1991, and co-directed The Breeders' "Cannonball" video with Spike Jonze.

Gordon, Moore, and Coco currently reside in Northampton, Massachusetts. They are frequently sighted in the area, and played a benefit concert with Cat Power for the Greenfield Center School in 2005. The band played a second benefit for the school in 2007.

Art World

Gordon is also a well-established visual artist and curator. Her work has been widely exhibited across the U.S., Japan and Europe. She graduated form the Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles. In the early 1980s, Gordon wrote for Artforum and worked for several Soho art galleries. She curated an exhibition at White Columns gallery in 1982 in which Mike Kelley and Tony Oursler were among the participants. Dan Graham invited her to join in a performance of an all-female rock band, which marked the start of her first band CKM. In 1996 Gordon was involved in an exhibition entitled Baby Generation at Parco gallery in Tokyo.

Her exhibition titled Kim's Bedroom was shown at MU in the Netherlands and included drawing and paintings along with live music and special guests. This resulted in a limited-edition book and CD published by Purple Books. In 2003, Gordon was featured in the Gothenburg Biennale, and exhibited Club In The Shadow, a collaboration with artist Jutta Koether at Kenny Schachter's Contemporary Gallery in NYC. In 2005 she curated events for Her Noise in London and did another collaboration with Koether.

An artist's book titled Kim Gordon Chronicles Vol. 1 featuring photos of Gordon throughout her life was published in 2005. In 2006, Kim Gordon Chronicles Vol. 2 was released, featuring her artwork.

Trivia

  • Appeared in the season six finale of Gilmore Girls.
  • Fellow rock band Rapeman recorded a tribute to her on their album Two Nuns and a Pack Mule entitled "Kim Gordon's Panties."
  • In the 1999 Sony PlayStation video game Silent Hill, Gordon, along with two other members of Sonic Youth, are mentioned in a teacher's directory in one of the levels. Later in the game, players can acquire a "K. Gordon" key and pass through her home. In a 2003 sequel, Silent Hill 3, she comes up again. Players pass through her classroom and learn a little more about the character.
  • Gordon appeared in Gus Van Sant's Last Days, a fictionalized biopic of one of her close friends, Kurt Cobain. She is also the only close friend of Cobain's who has publicly claimed that he was murdered.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ Dalton, Stephen. "Suicide Blond". Uncut Magazine August 2005. Beautifully Scarred. Accessed on August 24, 2005.


Persondata
NAME Gordon, Kim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gordon, Kim Althea
SHORT DESCRIPTION Experimental musician
DATE OF BIRTH April 28, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles, California, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
.
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