Exene Cervenka | |
|---|---|
 Cervenka at The Chestnut Cabaret in 1986 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christene Lee Cervenka |
| Also known as |
|
| Born | February 1, 1956 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, poet, visual artist |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | exenecervenka |
Exene Cervenka (born Christene Lee Cervenka; February 1, 1956) is an American singer, artist, and poet. She is best known for her work as a singer in the California punk rock band X.[1]
The 21-year-old Cervenka met 23-year-old musician John Doe at a poetry workshop at the Beyond Baroque Foundation in Venice, California.[2] Cervenka started working there.[3]
Billy Zoom (guitar) and John Doe (bass and vocals) founded X in 1977,[4] with D.J. Bonebrake coming aboard as drummer. Doe asked Cervenka to join soon after as a co-lead vocalist, and the duo were also the band's primary songwriters. They released their debut album, Los Angeles, in 1980 and, over the next six years, five more albums.
She learned to play guitar from Dave Alvin of The Blasters.[5]
In 1982, Cervenka published Adulterers Anonymous, her first in a series of four books in collaboration with artist Lydia Lunch. She and Lunch also released a spoken word album, Rude Hieroglyphics, in 1996 and toured in support of the project.[6]
From 1996 to 1999, John Roecker and Cervenka co-owned the Los Angeles store "You've Got Bad Taste." The store specialized in kitsch and various "off-color" novelties.[7][8]
In 1999, as Exene Červenková, she appeared in the cult video Decoupage 2000: Return of the Goddess, along with guests Karen Black and the band L7. She gave a reading of her poem "They Must Be Angels," and appeared in an interview skit with Decoupage 2000 hostess Summer Caprice.[9]
In 2005, Cervenka's journals and mixed media collages were exhibited in a one-person exhibition titled America the Beautiful at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. The exhibit was curated by Kristine McKenna and Michael Duncan. An expanded version of the exhibition traveled to DCKT Contemporary in New York in January 2006.
Cervenka was married to John Doe from 1980 to 1985. She met her second husband Viggo Mortensen in 1986 on the set of the comedy Salvation!, a parody of televangelism. Mortensen played her husband Jerome. They married on July 8, 1987. On January 28, 1988, Cervenka gave birth to a son, Henry Blake Mortensen. Mortensen and Cervenka lived in Idaho for three years.[2] They separated in 1992, and were divorced in 1997.[10]
Cervenka married musician Jason Edge, who went on to play in her band Original Sinners.[11] Edge and Cervenka are now divorced.[12]
Cervenka moved from Los Angeles to Jefferson City, Missouri,[2] for four years, and then returned to Southern California.[13] She now lives in Orange County.[14][15]
On June 2, 2009, Cervenka released a statement revealing that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.[16][17] Well before this diagnosis, she and X had actively supported Sweet Relief, a charity that aids uninsured artists. Sweet Relief was begun by musician Victoria Williams when she herself was diagnosed with MS.[18] In 2011, Cervenka said she may have been misdiagnosed.[14][19] However, Cervenka had to cancel a Spring 2011 tour due to problems associated with her MS.[20] During a July 2015 interview, John Doe said that the multiple sclerosis diagnosis was a misdiagnosis, that Cervenka, after consulting with various doctors who were not able to diagnose her, is healthy.[21]
Cervenka, as a self-styled "conspiracy therapist," has provoked controversy on social media and on YouTube, under the name "Christine Notmyrealname," by advancing conspiracy theories including the view that the Isla Vista shootings were a hoax designed to bring about stricter gun control laws. After the backlash, she has issued an apology on her Facebook and Twitter accounts and her conspiracy related YouTube videos are no longer available for viewing.[22][23][24] However, when pressed in interviews, Cervenka has insisted on a talking point of a "fake" news media, and has given tacit approval to what critics describe as fringe ideologies[specify] espoused on message boards and by then-President Donald Trump.[25]
