Cosey Fanni Tutti

British experimental rock musician, artist, and visual artist. Born: 4 November 1951 in in Hull, England, UK. Cosey began her career in the music and art world by forming COUM Transmissions with Genesis P-Orridge in 1969 and 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. She travelled as a performance artist in Belgium, Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Austria, USA, and Canada. 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. Her infamous 1976 exhibition 'Prostitution' at the ICA in London, confirmed her notions on preconceived perception and response to imagery. Music was used in some of Cosey's performances in preference to language which she considered an obstacle to her visual presentations. In 1976 she co-founded the group Throbbing Gristle with Chris Carter, Peter Christopherson, and Genesis P-Orridge. 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.