Linder Sterling (born 1954, Liverpool), commonly known as Linder, is a British artist known for her photography, radical feminist photomontage and confrontational performance art. She was also the former front-woman of Manchester based post-punk group

Ludus Ludus may refer to: * ''Ludus'' (ancient Rome) (plural ''ludi''), several meanings around "play, game, sport, training" **''Ludi'', public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people * Luduș, a town in Transylvania, Romania * ...

. In 2017, Sterling was honored with the

Paul Hamlyn Foundation Paul Hamlyn Foundation is a registered charity, and a company limited by guarantee which has been established in its current form since 2004, succeeding an earlier incarnation that was founded in 1987, which itself formalised established philanthr ...

Award. For her solo shows at the Hepworth Wakefield and

Tate St Ives Tate St Ives is an art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, England, exhibiting work by modern British artists with links to the St Ives area. The Tate also took over management of another museum in the town, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture ...

in 2013, Sterling collaborated with choreographer Kenneth Tindall of Northern Ballet for a performance piece, ''The Ultimate Form'' (2013), inspired by the artist's research into the work of

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...

. Recent solo exhibitions include

Nottingham Contemporary Nottingham Contemporary (formerly known as the Centre for Contemporary Art Nottingham (CCAN)) is a contemporary art centre in the Lace Market area of Nottingham. The gallery opened in 2009. The gallery describes its site as being "the oldest in ...

Kestnergesellschaft Kestner Gesellschaft (Kestner Society) is an art institution in Hanover, Germany, founded in 1916 to promote the arts. Its founders included the painter Wilhelm von Debschitz (1871–1948). The association blossomed under the management of and , ...

Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris (, Paris' Museum of Modern Art) or MAM Paris, is a major municipal museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries, including monumental murals by Raoul Dufy, Gaston Suisse, and Henri ...

, and

Museum of Modern Art PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, the ...

, and Sterling's work has been included in group exhibitions at

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art The Australian Centre For Contemporary Art (ACCA) is a contemporary art gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The gallery is located on Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, in the inner suburb of Southbank. Designed by Wood Marsh Architects ...

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

, and

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary ...

Early life and education

Sterling was born in Manchester to the late Jean and Thomas Mulvey. She was educated at Upholland Grammar School and studied Graphic Design at

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

from 1974 to 1977.

Work and exhibitions

Sterling's photomontage work was influenced by the punk rock movement; the punk cut-and-paste sensibility provided a vehicle to explore rebellious, gender, commodity critique, and the body. Her collage work was also influenced by the art historical

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

ist heritage, in particular the work of the German artist

Hannah Hoch Hannah or Hanna may refer to: People, biblical figures, and fictional characters * Hannah (name), a female given name of Hebrew origin * Hanna (Arabic name), a family and a male given name of Christian Arab origin * Hanna (Irish surname), a fam ...

). In one of her early works, the

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

for the 1977

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

release of "Orgasm Addict" by the punk band the

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

, the collage depicts a naked woman with an iron for a head and grinning mouths instead of nipples.

"At this point, men's magazines were either DIY, cars or porn. Women's magazines were fashion or domestic stuff. So, guess the common denominator – the female body. I took the female form from both sets of magazines and made these peculiar jigsaws highlighting these various cultural monstrosities that I felt there were at the time."

Sterling's work has been the subject of numerous international solo exhibitions, including those at the Tate Museum St. Ives,

, MoMA/P.S.1,

, among others. Her work has been featured in group shows at the

, the

, among other venues. Sterling's work is represented by Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles.

Public art

In 2018, Sterling received a commission to produce a large scale public art work, The Bower of Bliss, commissioned by

Art on the Underground Art on the Underground, previously called ''Platform for Art'', is Transport for London's (TfL) contemporary public art programme. It commissions permanent and temporary artworks for London Underground, as well as commissioning artists to create ...

to create her first large-scale public art piece consisting of an 85-metre long street-level photomontage billboard at

Southwark station Southwark is a London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark at the corner of Blackfriars Road and The Cut. It is between and stations on the Jubilee line, and is in Travelcard Zone 1. It was opened on 20 November 1999 as part ...

Performance art

* ''The Bower of Bliss'', Southwark Underground Station, London, November 2018 for

* ''Destination Moon. You must not look at her!'', Duke of York Steps, London, 2016 * ''Donkey Skin'', Art Night,

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

, London, 2016 * ''Children of the Mantic Stain'', Leeds Art Gallery, 2015 * ''The Ultimate Form'', Salle Matisse, Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, 2013 * ''The Darktown Cakewalk: Celebrated from the House of FAME,'' produced by Sorcha Dallas for the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, Glasgow, 2010 * ''The Darktown Cakewalk: Celebrated from the House of FAME'', Chisenhale Gallery, London, 2010 * ''The Working Class Goes To Paradise'', Tate Triennial, Tate Britain, London, 2006 * Ludus, Hacienda, Manchester, 1982

Ludus (band)

In 1978, Sterling co-founded the post-punk band Ludus, she performed as its singer and front-woman until the band split-up in 1983. She designed many of the group's album covers and sleeves. Ludus' music ranged from post punk to experimental avantgarde jazz to cocktail jazz. Sterling's distinctive vocal quality and techniques (including screaming, unusual sounds and laughter) combined with her lyrics, focused on female desire, alienation, sexual politics and gender roles. The bulk of the band's material was originally released on the indy labels such as

New Hormones New Hormones was a Manchester independent record label founded by Buzzcocks and manager Richard Boon. It was the first independent punk rock label in the UK. History Beginnings The label's first release was Buzzcocks' ''Spiral Scratch (EP)'' ...

and Crepuscule.

Publications

''Linder
, published by Ridinghouse 2015 *
Femme/Objet
', published by Musée d'Art moderne de la ville de Paris, 2013, on the occasion of Linder's solo exhibition
''Linder: Works 1976–2006''
(with essays written by

Jon Savage Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage; 2 September 1953 in Paddington, London) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'', published in 1991. ...

Philip Hoare Philip Hoare (born Patrick Kevin Philip Moore, 1958) is an English writer, especially of history and biography. He instigated the Moby Dick Big Read project. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton and Leverhulme ...

Lynne Tillman Lynne Tillman (born January 1, 1947) is a novelist, short story writer, and cultural critic. She is currently Professor/Writer-in-Residence in the Department of English at the University at Albany and teaches at the School of Visual Arts' Art Cri ...

, Paul Bayley, Andrew Renton and Morrissey), published by JRP, Editions, 2006

Collections

Sterling's work is included in the permanent collection of the Tate Modern Museum, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, among others.

Honours and awards

In 2005 Sterling receive a grant from the Arts Council of England. In 2017, Sterling received the

Award for her creative work. In 2018, she was named the first

Artist-in-Residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family sin ...

in Derbyshire. Her work during the residency was inspired by the Act of Representation of the People, the which gave women over the age of thiry the right to vote.

Personal life

Sterling has a son, Maxwell Sterling. She lives and works in London. Sterling is a long time friend of

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

lead singer,

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

, since they met at a

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

sound check in Manchester in 1976. Sterling was the inspiration for The Smiths' critically acclaimed song "

Cemetry Gates "Cemetry Gates" is a 1986 song by English alternative rock band the Smiths, for their third album, ''The Queen Is Dead''. Written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, the song centres around a guitar riff that Marr had initially thought was too uninte ...

References

Bibliography

* *