"London's fave tranny with a fanny" Time Out London
"Endearing cabaret doyenne" i-D Magazine
"She is art" Londonist.com
"Tranny fabulousness" Attitude
/Loud Singer/
/Artist/
/DJ/
/Owner of Hot Laser Group/
/Promoter/
/Queer Lady/
Shake it.
Pop music needs characters. Big characters.� And ones with a full face of slap at that.
In the '70s, Off-Broadway bequeathed us Divine and in the '80s, a creative club scene spawned Boy George. More recently Lady Gaga emerged butterfly-like from the NYC performance art world. So where better to find a new character for a new decade than London's alternative cabaret and club scene?
Step forward Holestar; the gender-bending Drag Goddess - a woman dressing up as a man, dressing as a fabulous, flamboyant woman.
As well as a former solider in the British Army, Holestar is a Central St Martins Fine Art Masters graduate, club promoter, DJ and cabaret artist. With a multitude of performances across Europe, New York, Glastonbury and Loveboxx Festivals, Royal Opera House, ICA, V&A, Vienna's Life Ball and every London club of note under her belt, Holestar really knows her crowds.
Holestar's musical inspiration covers underground disco, early house, '80s pop, rave and modern electro. Art, comedy and alternative performance also feed her creative juices.
Behind two of London's recent successful club nights (Hot Mess & Lets Get Quizzical) and Hot Laser (Queer Arts Community).
DJ
DJing for over ten years, sets are as varied as taste in wigs; focusing on electro, classic disco, house and trashy pop. Focusing on excellent music and getting a party rocking. No minimal, all maximal.
Holestar's 'Not Another Wig Playing CDs' Mix by Holestar
Flyers and press
My artistic intention is to blur the boundaries between both the avant-garde and mass entertainment, pop culture and the underground. Indulging those who worship at the altar of contemporary art and at the bowels of mass media.
Following time in the British Army, I realised my future lay as a visual artist. After studying photography to degree level and moving to Vienna, I developed the performative 'Drag Goddess' or 'Tranny with a Fanny' character. Influenced by the Blake Edwards film Victor/Victoria and Gilbert and George's notion of living sculpture, I adopt the guise of a drag queen in a genetically female body, reclaiming over exaggerated codes of femininity to the female form.
This guise has been performed extensively in the UK, Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and New York. Upon returning to the UK, I undertook a Fine Art Masters degree at Central St Martins. Previous works investigate sexuality and gender with more recent projects exploring personal history and biography utilising video, performance, photography and installation.
Exhibitions
2009 Everything Must Belong - Lauderdale House - London, UK
2009 Ru Paul's Drag Race Exhibition - World of Wonder Gallery - Hollywood, USA
2008 Envelope/Content - Wolstenholme Projects - Liverpool, UK
2008 MA Fine Art Central St Martins - London, UK
2008 This Constant Cracking of the Surface - The Bargehouse - London, UK
2008 Lift and Separate - V&A Museum - London, UK
2007 Left of Centre - Circus - London, UK
2006 1000 Degrees North - London, UK (and on tour internationally)
2004 It Ain't What You Do It's the Way That You Do It (Solo Show) - Vienna, AT
2002 Replica - Vienna, AT
2001 Curwen Gallery - London, UK
2001 Castlefield Gallery - Manchester, UK
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Contact
holestar@gmail.com
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Peas
