BIOGRAPHY |
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Fayette Hauser was born in Troy, New York and raised in Wanamassa, New Jersey, a suburb of the beach town of Asbury Park. At the age of 3 she embarked on a modeling career, which lasted until kindergarten set her in a more scholarly direction. Fayette graduated in 1967 from Boston University, College of Fine Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and sculpture. Fayette lived for a year in Manhattan’s West Village with Lenny Kaye who became the guitarist for Patti Smith. She was involved with the underground scene there with filmmakers such as Jack Smith and Andy Warhol appearing in the Ronald Tavel-Andy Warhol film The Life Story of Juanita Castro. In the summer of 1968 Fayette went to Aspen, Colorado to paint. While there she was picked up hitch-hiking by Nancy Gurley, the wife of James Gurley, the guitarist for Big Brother and the Holding Company. Meeting Nancy was the event that changed the course of her life. Nancy brought Fayette to San Francisco and into the arms of the original counter-culture tribe, The Family Dog. She began to live communely with other artists and in the fall of 1969 she co-founded the avant-garde experimental theatre troupe The Cockettes. (see Cockettes) She performed, designed costumes and extensively photographed the troupe until it's demise in 1972. (see Gallery) In the summer of 1972 Fayette went to Seattle to be with Tomata du Plenty and to perform with his troupe Ze Whiz Kidz. Tomata formed his group after performing with The Cockettes early in 1970 so he successfully brought the Cockette zeitgeist to Seattle. Ze Whiz Kidz were the first spin-off group of The Cockettes. They did shows every weekend at the Smith Tower, in the basement in a club called The Sub Room. It was an intimate location with a small stage so shows were fast and furious, lots of small skits and songs, all original material. In the fall of 1972 Fayette and Tomata moved to Lower Manhattan to perform in New York with the Underground Theater scene that was thriving in venues along the Bowery. They performed at the Cafe Cina, CBGB's where the Ramones opened for them in their show Savage Voodoo Nuns, The Bouwerie Lane Theatre in the Palm Casino Revue, 1973 & 1974 and the Club 82. Soon other Cockettes and Whiz Kidz joined them; Sweet Pam, John Flowers, Gorilla Rose and Screaming Orchids.
In 1975 Fayette moved to Los Angeles to write for CBS Television. However the burgeoning Los Angeles performance scene was too enticing so Fayette along with Tomata du Plenty continued performing in many underground clubs like Al's Bar, The Anti-Club, The Brave Dod and The Whisky. In 1978 Fayette, along with Jeff McGregor and Chuck Ivey formed the band Interpol. The band featured original New Wave music in a Neo-Romantic, Goth style. At the same time Fayette continued her education receiving an Associate Degree in Photography and becoming a professional photographer and graphic artist, photographing and designing album covers for many of the creative artists in the music scene of Los Angeles in the 70's and 80's. Along with her photography Fayette created a small design business called Atelier Fayette which featured Wearable Art, one-of-a-kind clothing. Her clients included The Rolling Stones, New Kids on the Block, Arsenio Hall and Diana Ross. In the early 90's Fayette studied Method Acting with Susan Peretz, the then head of The Actor's Studio. At this time Fayette also was the Costume Designer on four feature films, The Russian Godfather, The Isle of Lesbos, My Brother Jack and High Cotton (not completed). She received two Dramalogue Awards for the plays Detective Story and A View from the Bridge. Later Fayette became a table-top prop stylist for Bon Appetite magazine simultaneously maintaining her small business, Atelier Fayette, which now focused on Antique French Textiles from the Art Nouveau Era, creating pillows for home decor which were featured in magazines such as House and Gardens. Fayette's photography work has been featured in galleries and museums and is currently a part of the exhibit West of Center: Art and The Counter-Culture Experiment in America, 1965-1977, first curated by the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art. Fayette has presented an artist's talk and slide show as well as performance, travelling with the exhibit to all its various locales; Scottsdale MCA, Jordan Schnitzer Museum, U. of Oregon, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland. She has also presented her artist’s talk to the students at the University of Washington, Counter-Couture class 2 years in a row and to the Barbie design team at Mattel’s Handler Design Studio. Author of the Cover Article for the June 2017 issue of Juxtapoz magazine:
California Historical Society Blog Post:
Most recently Fayette's photography work has been included in the Walker Art Center exhibition, Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia which opened in November 2105. The exhibition featured The Cockettes as pioneers of avant garde performance in the Counter Culture movement.
http://www.walkerart.org/calendar/2015/hippie-modernism-struggle-utopia
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