Laurie Anderson
Year of birth, place
Role at the ZKM
- Artist of the Collection
Biography
Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned – and daring – creative pioneers. She is best known for her multimedia presentations and innovative use of technology. As writer, director, visual artist and vocalist she has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, and experimental music. Her recording career, launched by »O Superman« in 1981, includes the soundtrack to her feature film »Home of the Brave« and »Life on a String« (2001). Anderson's live shows range from simple spoken word to elaborate multi-media stage performances such as »Songs and Stories for Moby Dick« (1999). Anderson has published seven books and her visual work has been presented in major museums around the world.
In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA which culminated in her 2004 touring solo performance »The End of the Moon«. Recent projects include a series of audio-visual installations and a high definition film, »Hidden Inside Mountains«, created for World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. In 2007 she received the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for her outstanding contribution to the arts. In 2008 she completed a two-year worldwide tour of her performance piece, »Homeland«, which was released as an album on Nonesuch Records in June 2010. Anderson’s solo performance »Delusion« debuted at the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad in February 2010 and will continue to tour internationally into 2011. In 2010 a retrospective of her visual and installation work opened in Sao Paulo and later traveled to Rio de Janeiro.
In 2011 her exhibition of all new work titled »Forty-Nine Days In the Bardo« opened at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. That same year she was awarded with the Pratt Institute’s Honorary Legends Award. She has recently finished residencies at both CAP in UCLA in Los Angeles and EMPAC in Troy, New York. Her film »Heart of a Dog« was chosen as an official selection of the 2015 Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. In the same year, her exhibition »Habeas Corpus« opened at the Park Avenue Armory to wide critical acclaim and in 2016 she was the recipient of Yoko Ono’s Courage Award for the Arts for that project. Anderson lives in New York City.