We were extremely pleased to welcome artist Eric Heist (NYC) to the gallery on June 23rd 2023 to talk about his work with the late Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, particularly the Candy Factory works currently on view at the gallery.

We were also very pleased to present musician and writer Paul Bee Hamsphire, whose close friendship with Genesis began decades ago and continued through their lifetimes together. Bee's insights into the life and times of Genesis offered a unique opportunity to discover more about this one time Brighton resident and most intriguing of artist performers.

Additionally we were joined by Greg Taylor, aka Foxtrot Echo, member of Gen’s performance group COUM Transmissions in the 1970’s. Foxtrot Echo brought historical perspective to the talk as well as good humour and a sense of fun, which was something Gen valued but is often overlooked by those that perhaps didn’t know them.

Important questions were also offered from the floor by the wonderful Dorothy Max Prior who was in Psychic TV as well as doing a million other great things.

Premiered at New York’s Team Gallery in the year 2000, the initial Candy Factory exhibition marked the first time Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, the legendary artist, musician and provocateur had presented work in a commercial gallery. Her performance art troupe COUM Transmissions, had already had their first retrospective at the ICA (London) as far back as 1976, but her work was mostly performance or mailart or music; all very hard to commodify.

The aforementioned exhibition was a partnership between Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and the artist Eric Heist. At the time, Heist was creating sugar-coated silkscreen paintings of body-related imagery. Breyer P-Orridge was making photographic images of non gender-specific bodies.Heist was also running the non-profit organisation, Momenta Art, and both were interested in incorporating context through images that suggested the elision of wealth and poverty, transcending class by moving away from identity distinctions.