Taraka Larson
Not much can faze Taraka Larson – born on Beethoven's birthday, she grew up in ashrams, lived on black metal communes, worked for utopian architects, delivered lectures from pools of fake blood, written post-internet manifestos, and toured the world extensively with her band, Prince Rama.
The band has become much of a cult enigma over the years, signed by Animal Collective and riding the fine line between rock n roll and performance art. They are perhaps the only band who have been able to simultaneously incite mosh pits and paradoxically reach #3 on the Billboard New Age charts.
Through the lens of music, Larson has created an unconventional visual arts practice and has exhibited internationally at the Whitney Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, and the MoMA PS1 VW Dome, to name a few.
Her latest solo project explores a new landscape of disheveled "post-edenic-grunge" music she wrote while living in isolation with a Sonoran Gopher Snake in a gallery simulating a post-apocalyptic Garden of Eden.