Synopses & Reviews
COVID VORTEX ANXIETY OPERA KITTY KALEIDOSCOPE DISCO meditates on the extraordinary time of loss, isolation, and bizarre rituals of the Covid era and its aftermath.
"Yep, she's still got it.... Like the most inspiring religious services, 'Covid Vortex Anxiety Opera Kitty Kaleidoscope Disco' ends on an optimistic note, with Finley pivoting from shock and horror at the lives lost, access and control over one's body into hope — for change, peace, courage, love. And art. Always art." —Elisabeth Vincentelli, The New York Times
First performed at sold-out theaters in New York, where the Village Voice compared Karen Finley to Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso, this vivid suite of poems invokes a maelstrom of feelings that will make you laugh and cry, sometimes on the same page. In COVID Vortex Anxiety Opera Kitty Kaleidoscope Disco, Finley processes the pandemic in all its complexity — from the collective coping strategies during isolation and loss to the absurd new habits we acquired, from handwashing to wiping down groceries to decorative double masks and zoom dance parties.
The New York City hotspot echoes an earlier AIDS era; that rage and sorrow remain part of the City's DNA. During COVID, tragic historic events such as the police murder of George Floyd and the continued brutality on Black and brown bodies, challenged the nation. Revolution took to the streets. The reversal of Roe v Wade and the criminalizing of trans peoples' bodies, mental health realities, houselessness, essential workers' rights, and social isolation brought desperate conditions. Finley reflects on these traumas, asking how do we employ love despite the hate, to encourage humanity despite proliferating violence?
On the fifth anniversary of the pandemic lockdown, COVID Vortex Anxiety Opera Kitty Kaleidoscope Disco looks back while also looking forward, offering art as salvation, and the deep belief in the power of words, compassion, and humor to transcend the harsh realities of today.
Review
"Karen Finley doesn't just address the grief and the gloom of the COVID year. She guides us with wit and poetry through a kaleidoscope of recent traumas: the police murders that necessitated Black Lives Matter, the end of abortion rights, and the rage that still lingers from our last epidemic, AIDS. This is a natural for an artist who's made it her life's work to tell the awfullest truths and to give voice to the marginalized. This is how disco becomes opera." Cynthia Carr, author of Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar
Review
"Only an artist, writer, and performer with the magnitude of talent, power, compassion, and vision such as Karen Finley could shape the fear, loss, grief, anxiety, and the inequities of the COVID pandemic and our world into song, elegy, verse, an opera, an epic poem. Only she could comfort while leading us in a collective cry for action, freedom, and justice, and offer a prescription for our survival through art." Pamela Sneed, author of Funeral Diva
Review
"Karen Finley's COVID Vortex Anxiety Opera Kitty Kaleidoscope Disco is a visceral flashback to the landmark turmoil of our recent past. After expressing her fear and grief, Finley gathers the energy to argue for peaceable politics and meaning-making community. Ironically, the artist once declared 'indecent' by the NEA ultimately makes a plea for decency — for love and tolerance, human dignity, and the virtues of civil society." Sarah Thornton, sociologist and author of Tits Up: The Top Half of Women's Liberation
About the Author
Karen Finley is an artist, performer, and poet. Born in Chicago, she received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Finley was the named plaintiff for the Supreme Court case Finley v. NEA that challenged the decency provision in government grants to artists through the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work has been presented internationally such as the Barbican in London; Lincoln Center, New York City; Art Basel in Miami; and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, among others. She is the author of nine books, including Grabbing Pussy (OR Books, 2018), the 25th anniversary edition of Shock Treatment (City Lights, 2015), and The Reality Shows (Feminist Press, 2011). A recipient of many awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, she is a professor in Art and Public Policy at New York University. She lives in Westchester County, New York.