(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Sonic Youth cofounder Kim Gordon brings her newest musical project, Body/Head — a Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd-inspired improvisational duo – to the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA on Saturday, March 15, 2014, at 8pm. Joining Gordon will be Northampton-based free-noise guitarist Bill Nace.

Kim Gordon rose to prominence as co-founder, bassist, and vocalist of the watershed post-punk experimental rock band Sonic Youth. Coming up through the ranks of the New York City underground music scene of the late 1970s and early ’80s, Sonic Youth became one of the world’s most influential bands – the Velvet Underground to a whole new generation of younger groups, including Nirvana —  and Gordon would become the high priestess of 1980s and ’90s alt-rock.

Seemingly stoic off-stage, Gordon is a kinetic performer and unselfconsciously experimental. Although not technically trained as a bassist or guitarist, Gordon has evolved a style that plumbs the expressive depth of these stringed instruments, as well as her signature changeable voice. Gordon, who eschews the title “musician”, refers to herself simply as an artist. A true creative icon, Gordon is at times a fashion designer, artist (a partial retrospective of her work was on view at White Columns in the September of this year), and writer (she has written for Artforum and is currently working on an autobiography). Gordon also co-produced Hole’s debut album Pretty on the Inside, and facilitated Nirvana, Spike Jonze, and Sofia Coppola’s entry into the popular contemporary cultural landscape.

Nace, Gordon’s Body/Head collaborator, is also no stranger to boundary-expanding music. The Northampton-based guitarist has been performing with legends such as Paul Flaherty and Thurston Moore for years. Nace is also the founder of the record label Open Mouth, which has been publishing experimental albums since 2004.

In the duo’s debut album Coming Apart – released on September 10 and recorded less than one hour from MASS MoCA in Easthampton, Mass. – Gordon and Nace restrict their palette to voice and guitar. Pitchfork reviewer Marc Masters describes the result: “Gordon and Nace burrow deep into their narrow sound, mining it for more variety and emotion than it should rightfully hold.” According to Masters, “the result is subtle,” but “the duo’s dedication to a specific point of view becomes intoxicating.”

A full bar, and dinner and snacks from Lickety Split, are available before and during the show. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the event. Members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA box office, located on Marshall Street in North Adams, from 11am to 5pm (open every day except Tuesdays). Tickets can be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 x1 during box office hours or purchased online at MASS MoCA.