When multidisciplinary artist and musician Venus de Mars came out as transgender in 1988, the world didn’t have the same understanding of transness that we do now. Her glam-punk band Venus de Mars & All the Pretty Horses was a loud and bold response to the animosity she faced for her existence (de Mars has been known to shower the stage with sparks firing from a grinder and a metal plate at her pelvis). Over the years, she’s released solo acoustic songs and has recently been working on a memoir reflecting her artistic and personal journey. Following an installation of Park Theater’s monthly “Galère of Poetic Autopsies” series on August 1 with readings from de Mars, her wife Lynette Reini-Grandell, and writer Cat Tyc—de Mars will be returning to the stage on August 3 to do what she does best: perform.
