Linder Sterling

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 from 1974 to 1977.[2][9]

The House of Fame: Convened by Linder

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 Dadaist heritage, in particular the work of the German artist Hannah Hoch).[10]

In one of her early works, the cover art for the 1977 single release of "Orgasm Addict" by the punk band the Buzzcocks,[11] the collage depicts a naked woman with an iron for a head and grinning mouths instead of nipples.[11]

"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."[12]

Sterling's work has been the subject of numerous international solo exhibitions, including those at the Tate Museum St. Ives,[4] Nottingham Contemporary,[13] Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris,[14] MoMA/P.S.1,[15] Kestnergesellschaft,[4] among others. Her work has been featured in group shows at the Tate Modern,[4] Tate Britain,[4] the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago,[16] Australian Centre for Contemporary Art,[17] among other venues.[4]

Sterling's work is represented by Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles.[8]

• The Bower of Bliss, Southwark Underground Station, London, November 2018 for Art on the Underground[20][21]
• Destination Moon. You must not look at her!, Duke of York Steps, London, 2016[22]
• Donkey Skin, Art Night, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 2016[23]
• Children of the Mantic Stain, Leeds Art Gallery, 2015[24]
• The Ultimate Form, Salle Matisse, Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, 2013[25]
• The Darktown Cakewalk: Celebrated from the House of FAME, produced by Sorcha Dallas for the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, Glasgow, 2010[26]
• The Darktown Cakewalk: Celebrated from the House of FAME, Chisenhale Gallery, London, 2010[27]
• The Working Class Goes To Paradise, Tate Triennial, Tate Britain, London, 2006[28]
• Ludus, Hacienda, Manchester, 1982[29]

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 and Crepuscule.[30][31][32]

• 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, Philip Hoare, Lynne Tillman, Paul Bayley, Andrew Renton and Morrissey), published by JRP|Editions, 2006

Sterling's work is included in the permanent collection of the Tate Modern Museum,[4] the Museum of Modern Art,[33] among others.

In 2005 Sterling receive a grant from the Arts Council of England.[34] In 2017, Sterling received the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for her creative work.[4] In 2018, she was named the first Artist-in-Residence at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Her work during the residency was inspired by the Act of Representation of the People, which gave women over the age of thirty the right to vote.[35][9]

Sterling has a son, Maxwell Sterling.[36] She lives and works in London.[8]

Sterling is a long time friend of The Smiths lead singer, Morrissey, since they met at a Sex Pistols sound check in Manchester in 1976.[37] Sterling was the inspiration for The Smiths' critically acclaimed song "Cemetry Gates."

• O'Brien, Lucy (1999). "The woman punk made me". In Sabin, Roger (ed.). Punk Rock: So What?. Routledge. pp. 186–198.
• Rogan, Johnny (1992). Morrissey and Marr: The Severed Alliance. Omnibus Press. pp. 102–103, 109–111.

• An interview with artist Linder Sterling, by Sue Herdman, The Arts Society 26 March 2018
• "Linder – Images". Modern Art. Retrieved 6 April 2012. Modernart.net
• "Ludus biography at LTM". ltmrecordings.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011. Ludus
• Sorcha Dallas Sorchadallas
• "Linder Sterling'S Manchester Voodoo. 'Clint Eastwood, Clare Offreduccio And Me: Requiem.'". 3ammagazine.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011. 3am magazine
• "Magazine : Special guest / Linder | wire—sound". Wire-sound.com. 21 January 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011. Wire-sound.com