Stephen Tashjian (born 1959) is an American artist. His drag queen character Tabboo! became known in the East Village underground scene of New York City in the 1980s. He is also a puppeteer, painter, and singer.

Biography

Stephen Tashjian was born in 1959 and raised in the central Massachusetts town of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. He is from an

Armenian American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in ...

family. Tashjian attended the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston where he became friends with fellow students Nan Goldin and Jack Pierson. He moved to New York's East Village in 1982 to pursue a career as an artist, and became a regular performer at the Pyramid Club, appearing next to other drag legends like

Rupaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

and

Lady Bunny Lady Bunny, originally known as "Bunny Hickory Dickory Dock" (born Jon Ingle, August 13, 1962), is an American drag queen, nightclub DJ, actor, comedian, and event organizer. She is the founder of the annual Wigstock event, as well as an occasion ...

. Tashjian also performed several times at the annual

Wigstock Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that began in 1984 in Manhattan's East Village that took place on Labor Day. Continuing, with a few gaps, until 2005, the festival would traditionally act as the unofficial end to the summer for the ...

drag event, and appeared in '' Wigstock, The Movie'', released in 1995. Tashjian has painted murals on city buildings and exhibited his paintings in many galleries internationally. Under the name Tabboo!, he designed flyers, record album covers and advertising for underground venues. One of his better known artworks is his graphic design for the album cover of Deee-Lite's '' World Clique''. The curly lettering on the album cover became an iconic image for the band and the rave culture of the early 1990s. The photographer Nan Goldin included photographs of Tabboo! in her books, and he is featured on the cover of her book ''The Other Side'' in drag. Tashjian continues to perform in New York and shows his paintings in art shows, most notably a 2006 group show curated by Jack Pierson at Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York, featuring dozens of camp art pieces from his private collection. The show featured works by

Matthew Barney Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...

, Nan Goldin, David Armstrong, Jack Pierson, and Mark Morrisroe. Tashjian's work has also been documented in the New Museum's "East Village Show", and New York University (NYU)/ Grey Art Gallery's "Downtown Show."

References

External links

Stephen Tashjian, ''The Name of This Show is Not Gay Art''
Paul Kasmin Gallery, Summer 2006 Living people 1959 births Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni American drag queens American puppeteers 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists American people of Armenian descent People from Leicester, Massachusetts People from the East Village, Manhattan 20th-century American male artists {{US-artist-stub