COSEY FANNI TUTTI - biography

Born in Hull , Cosey began her distinguished career in music and art world in 1969 as a member of COUM with Genesis P-Orridge, appearing in Art performances and musical improvisations in Hull between 1969-1972.

In 1973 she moved to London and continued working in Performance Art going on to represent Britain at the 9th Paris Biennale 1975 and Arte Inglese Oggi 1976. Travelled as performance Artist in Belgium, Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Austria, USA and Canada 1973-1980 and received travel grants from the British Council 1974, 1975 and 1976 and bursaries from the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1974 and 1975.

Throughout this time Cosey was exhibiting her art works, contributing to mail art exhibitions and performing in shows around the world. Often working naked in her performance pieces Cosey went on to investigate nudity in the context of sex magazines, sex films, glamour modelling, striptease etc. Her experiences in this period (1973-1984) were brought into her art work as she explored the many aspects of sex as it is perceived and presented as a commercial product. She represented a much desired freedom for women to express themselves sexually without guilt or preconceived ideas of 'beauty'. In her performance pieces she placed conventional beauty in a situation where it was changed via simulated mutilation before the eyes of those watching. This provided a visual contrast to both highlight and question the notion of what is presentable as 'beauty'.

Her infamous exhibition 'PROSTITUTION' at the ICA, London 1976, confirmed her notions on preconceived perception and response to imagery. The press went hysterical at the nude magazines and used tampons on display and as a result unwittingly became part of the exhibition. The press cuttings of the show were placed alongside the other exhibits as prime examples of the subject of the exhibition, preconceived perception. Prostitution was an exhibition about the image we project and the way people perceive us when presented with our image in various forms. The exhibition consisted of Cosey Fanni Tutti as Artist, Model, Musician, Herself etc. Many people would believe her to be whatever they perceived at the time depending which information / image they were presented with. The press provided more images of Cosey, based on their perception of those in the exhibition, which were then conveyed as being the correct way to perceive her, thereby re-affirming and maintaining the notion of preconceived perception.

Music was used in some of Cosey's performances in preference to language which she considered an obstacle to her visual presentations. Music enhanced the piece whereas language tended to impose a meaning on her intentionally multi-interpretable performances. The whole point behind her performances was that people could assimilate as much as they wished at any one time. The use of music lead to Cosey's interest in the concept of 'acceptable' music and she went on to explore the use of sound, scientifically, politically, commercially and as a means of physical pleasure or pain. In 1976 she co-founded the group THROBBING GRISTLE with Chris Carter, Peter Christopherson and Genesis P-Orridge. They broke the rules of established music and music business practice becoming successful in their own right with their own record label, INDUSTRIAL RECORDS. The project completed its mission and was terminated in 1981.

In 1982 Cosey and Chris Carter celebrated the birth of their son Nick Newby-Carter and also the beginning of their working partnership as Chris & Cosey and CTI. They toured extensively in the UK, Europe, USA and Canada performing their music in conjunction with video projections.

Cosey has always collaborated with many artists. As a fellow artist she brought an empathetic approach when working on films with Anna Ambrose 1980, Steve Dwoskin 1982 and Peter Greenaway in 1984. Her Art performances continued alongside her other activities performing in London, Brighton and Amsterdam in 1985 -1987 after which she immersed herself in creating music and video with partner Chris Carter.

In 1994, the composition of the CTI musical piece 'CHRONOMANIC' brought together Cosey's work in all fields, music, a reproduction of one of Cosey's encaustic paintings for the CD cover and a video piece commissioned for the Sonar festival. This marked Cosey's re-entry into the art world. Since 1994 she has exhibited her works in the UK, U.S.A., Austria, Germany, Lisbon, Japan, Spain, Portugal and Sweden. She now works closely with and is represented by Cabinet, London.

In June 2001 at Ely Cathedral, and after 6 years of hard work between her other activities, Cosey was conferred with a Humanities First Class Degree with Honours.

Cosey recently began preparing for a series of subcultural actions consisting of video photography, performance and vestige art objects which are scheduled to take place in locations in the UK, Europe and the U.S.A. beginning in 2002.


UPDATE 2006
Cosey has completed the'Selflessness'subcultural live art action series. Selflessness One' is presently exhibited as part of the group show 'It's Time for Action' at Migros Museum, Zurich. She is continuing with numerous collaborative projects with various artists and musicians alongside her continuing work with partner Chris Carter, CTI and the latterly re-grouped Throbbing Gristle.


Last updated Aug 2006