Draft:Michelle Juliette Carr

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Michelle Juliette Carr is an American cultural producer, writer, and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. Across music, nightlife, performance, and food culture, she has been described as a tastemaker and trendsetter in multiple fields.[1] She co-founded the underground music venue Jabberjaw (1989–1997), performed at the queer performance club Club FUCK! (1989–1993), and founded the Velvet Hammer Burlesque troupe (1995–2002), which Time and the Los Angeles Times credited with helping ignite the neo-burlesque revival in the United States.[2][3]

Carr is the author of Jabberjaw: It All Dies Anyway (Rizzoli, 2015) and The Velvet Hammer Burlesque (Die Gestalten Verlag, 2009), and a contributor to the anthology Hommage an Anton LaVey (Edition Esoterick, 2011). She is currently editing an anthology on Club FUCK! to be published by Amok Books in 2026.[4]

Since 2022, Carr has co-owned the Golden Poppy Market in Cypress Park, Los Angeles. Coverage in the Los Angeles Times and SF Gate has identified it as one of the premier examples of a new generation of artisanal neighborhood markets, situating Carr once again at the forefront of cultural and retail trends in the city.[5][6]

Career

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Jabberjaw (1989–1997)

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Carr co-founded the Los Angeles music venue Jabberjaw, which operated between 1989 and 1997 and became known as a hub for underground and punk music.[7] The space has been profiled in both cultural journalism and art criticism.[8][9] KCRW published retrospective coverage in 2015, including “Jabberjaw Revisited” by Eric J. Lawrence[10] and a segment on Press Play with Madeleine Brand.[11]

Club FUCK! (1989–1993)

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Carr was a performer at the seminal queer performance venue Club FUCK!, active in Los Angeles between 1989 and 1993. The club has been studied in academic journals and cultural history. Andrew J. Henkes examined the performances in The Journal of American Culture (2013),[12] and Bhaskar Sarkar analyzed its impact in Media Fields Journal.[13] PBS SoCal published a feature article by Miriam Gurba in 2016, situating the venue within Los Angeles queer history,[14] and ONE Archives at USC organized an exhibition titled FUCK! Loss, Desire, Pleasure that included Carr’s involvement.[15] In 2025, Carr announced she was editing an anthology on Club FUCK! to be published by Amok Books in 2026.[4]

The Velvet Hammer Burlesque (1995–2002)

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Carr founded the Velvet Hammer Burlesque troupe, credited with helping launch the neo-burlesque revival in Los Angeles.[2][3] The group received wide coverage: Elina Shatkin covered later performances in 2008,[16] and Rose Apodaca profiled it in Women’s Wear Daily.[17] The troupe is also featured in histories of neo-burlesque.[18]

Collaborations and performance art

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Carr has collaborated with performance artists and institutions, including Ron Athey’s Gifts of the Spirit, reviewed by Andy Campbell in Artforum (2018),[19] and Nao Bustamante’s The Wooden People at REDCAT (2021).[20] She participated in public programs such as a Soho House and Gagosian Gallery panel on publishing with Mark Mothersbaugh and Toby Mott,[21] and has been associated with projects by Fallen Fruit at LACMA and the Hammer Museum.[22][23]

The Golden Poppy Market (2022–present)

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Since 2022, Carr has co-owned the Golden Poppy Market, a curated neighborhood grocery in Cypress Park, Los Angeles. The store offers pantry goods, organic produce, deli items, and prepared foods. It has been profiled in regional media: *SF Gate* included it in a feature on independent markets poised to compete with Trader Joe’s,[6] and the Los Angeles Times featured it in a list of artisanal “superettes” reshaping Los Angeles retail culture.[5]

Works and publications

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Books

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  • Carr, Michelle. Jabberjaw: It All Dies Anyway. Rizzoli, 2015.[7]
  • Carr, Michelle. The Velvet Hammer Burlesque. Die Gestalten Verlag, 2009.[24]

Book contributions

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  • Kronlöb, Lars Peter (ed.), Jack Fritscher, Michelle Carr. Hommage an Anton LaVey. Edition Esoterick, Germany, 2011.[25]
  • Carr, Michelle (ed.). Club FUCK! (Amok Books, forthcoming 2026).[4]

Selected writings

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  • Carr, Michelle; Urban, Hope. “Velvet Hammer to Fall.” Juxtapoz Magazine (Special 50th Issue), 2004.
  • Subject of profiles and interviews including Laurie Pike’s “Taste Maker” in Los Angeles Magazine (2011),[1] and pieces in Time, Los Angeles Times, and Women’s Wear Daily.

Legacy and cultural impact

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Carr has been profiled in national and international media, including Time, the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Women’s Wear Daily, and Artforum. She is recognized as an influential figure in alternative culture, neo-burlesque, and independent neighborhood markets in Los Angeles.[2][3][1][5][6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Pike, Laurie (March 1, 2011). "Taste Maker". Los Angeles Magazine.
  2. ^ a b c Nugent, Benjamin (May 20, 2002). "Stripping Down to the Roots". Time.
  3. ^ a b c Kuipers, Dean (March 14, 2002). "Behind the Velvet Curtain: The Tale of the Tease". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ a b c "Amok Books forthcoming titles". Amok Books. 2025. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  5. ^ a b c Harris, Jen (2023). "What's a Superette? 12 unbearably cute markets to shop in L.A." Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ a b c Palmer, Karen (June 14, 2024). "The Calif. Neighborhood Markets That Could Replace Trader Joe's". SF Gate.
  7. ^ a b Kellogg, Carolyn (September 8, 2015). "Remembering Jabberjaw, LA's defiant Music Venue". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ Davis, Vaginal. "Jabberjaw". Artforum.
  9. ^ Ehrman, Mark (October 24, 1993). "For Pop Tart Fans with a Clue". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ^ Lawrence, Eric J. (February 23, 2015). "Jabberjaw Revisited". KCRW.
  11. ^ "It All Dies Anyway: LA's Jabberjaw and the End of an Era". KCRW. February 23, 2015.
  12. ^ Henkes, Andrew J. (December 2013). "A Party for the "Freaks": Performance, Deviance and Communitas at Club Fuck!, 1989–1993". The Journal of American Culture. 36 (4): 287–296.
  13. ^ Sarkar, Bhaskar (December 5, 2013). "Industrial Strength Queer/Club Fuck! and the Reorientation of Desire". Media Fields Journal.
  14. ^ Gurba, Miriam (February 29, 2016). "Resurrecting an Expletive: LA's Legendary Queer Night Club". PBS SoCal.
  15. ^ "FUCK! Loss, Desire, Pleasure". ONE Archives at USC.
  16. ^ Shatkin, Elina (March 27, 2008). "The Late Velvet Hammer Burlesque Strikes Another Blow". Los Angeles Times.
  17. ^ Apodaca, Rose (November 26, 2002). "The Velvet Underground". Women’s Wear Daily.
  18. ^ Lecaro, Lina (2019). "Pioneers and Pasties: A Brief History of Neo-Burlesque in L.A." LA Weekly.
  19. ^ Campbell, Andy (January 30, 2018). "Glory Be: Andy Campbell on Ron Athey's Gifts of the Spirit". Artforum.
  20. ^ "Nao Bustamante: The Wooden People". REDCAT. December 2021.
  21. ^ "Soho House and Gagosian Gallery Present a Conversation on Body Publishing". Autre. February 22, 2017.
  22. ^ "Let Them Eat LACMA". Fallen Fruit. 2010.
  23. ^ "Fruitique at the Hammer Museum". Zoe Crosher. 2013.
  24. ^ "Book Review: The Velvet Hammer Burlesque". The Written Word Reviews. 2009.
  25. ^ "Hommage an Anton LaVey". Goodreads. 2011.

Category:Living people Category:American performance artists Category:American women writers Category:Burlesque performers Category:Nightlife in Los Angeles Category:21st-century American businesswomen Category:American women in business

Creating draft biography of Michelle Juliette Carr