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Karen Finley

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Performance Artist

The Resume

    (1956- )
    Born in Chicago, Illinois
    Theatrical pieces include 'We Keep Our Victims Ready,' 'The Return of the Chocolate-Smeared Woman,' 'Yams and My Granny's Ass,' 'The American Chestnut,' 'Shut Up and Love Me,' 'Make Love,' 'George and Martha' and 'The Jackie Look'
    Recorded the albums 'The Truth Is Hard to Swallow' (1988) and 'A Certain Level of Denial' (1994)
    Appeared in the film 'Philadelphia' (1993)
    Frequent guest on Politically Incorrect
    Wrote 'Enough Is Enough: Weekly Meditations on Living Dysfunctionally,' 'Living It Up: Humorous Adventures in Hyperdomesticity,' 'Pooh Unplugged' and 'A Different Kind of Intimacy'
    Professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts
    One of the 'NEA 4,' performance artists whose grants were cancelled by the National Endowment of the Arts after being condemned for 'indecency' by Senator Jesse Helms (1990)

Why she might be annoying:

    She was arrested for portraying 'a mix of red light district prostitute and locked up psychopath' in the window of a defunct JC Penney (1978).
    She complains that media focus on the part of her performances where she strips naked and slathers food (yams, chocolate, honey, etc.) on her body created 'the erroneous impression that my work was sexual in nature.'
    She interrupts her monologues to berate audience members who laugh at the wrong time.
    One interviewer said she was 'as emotionally volatile as a sugared-up child.'
    She said she moved to Los Angeles 'to live in a place that is very, very shallow.'
    She said about performing, 'I could get attention a lot of other ways. Easier ways.... I feel that I have to do it because I don't see many other people who are capable of doing it. I feel that it's my responsibility.'

Why she might not be annoying:

    She won an Obie Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship for 'The American Chestnut.'
    The dance hit 'Theme from S'Express' sampled her 'Tales of Taboo.'
    'The Village Voice' described her performances as 'a brilliant mix of Brecht and postmodern feminist theory.'
    She was delighted to have both posed in 'Playboy' and received a 'Ms. Magazine' Woman of the Year award.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 49 Votes: 51.02% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 90 Votes: 64.44% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 23 Votes: 52.17% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 143 Votes: 41.26% Annoying