Charming outrage

Genesis P-Orridge: Painful But Fabulous

In certain quarters, Genesis P-Orridge has acquired something of the status of a cult icon.

This is mainly due to his membership of Throbbing Gristle, those innovators of industrial noise. It may also have helped that the late, slightly bonkers Tory MP Sir Nicholas Fairbairn once called him one of the 'wreckers of civilisation'.

This is an oft-peddled quote, but it naturally lends itself to repetition (it's in the press release for this retrospective of artworks, and it's the title of a P-Orridge biography).

Neither genius nor evil-doer, the real P-Orridge is somewhere in between - though, as physical reinvention is his chief project, real is a relative term.

Working with wife Lady J, under the collaborative identity of Breyer P-Orridge, Genesis has set about the task of surgical transgender remodification. To this end, he and Lady J have undergone breast augmentation to acquire near-identical boobs, documented in a series of photos called The Stations Of The Cross.

Genesis is big on religious imagery: see his picture of Christ sporting a pair of breasts and holding a surgical drain like a sacred heart, similar to the one Genesis holds in a post-op photo. There's also a series of works first shown at the ICA in 1976, the show that excited Fairbairn's invective. These involve used tampons arranged in display cases in quite clever and inventive ways.

Moral outrage nearly always transmutes into its charmed opposite - and it's probably the reason why this exhibition is surprisingly engaging.

Until June 27, A22 Gallery, 22 Laystall Street EC1, Wed to Fri midday to 6pm, free.

Tel: 020 7837 2101. Tube: Chancery Lane