Hi!

Hello to you all. Remember me? I don’t blame you if you’ve forgotten. Sometimes time gets away from me and I’m surprised to look up and realize that months and months have gone by without my updating my website or sending out one of my fascinating/electrifying email newsletters. But that’s not exactly why it’s been almost an entire year since you’ve heard from me. There have been some extreme bright spots for me in this past year, but generally it has SUCKED, and that is the reason I’ve been so quiet. However, despite being beaten down by overwhelming loss, illness, death, conflict, and—shall we say—the fucking world crumbling around us, I have been steadily working in the studio, in the House of Larréon atelier, and on my laptop, trying not to lose myself and getting some legitimate joy and satisfaction here and there the way I was led to believe one is supposed to feel when you are an artist and you make something you are proud of. So, for the purposes of this update, my intention is to focus on the fun triumphs and not bring anyone down with the details of my personal tales of woe. 

In that spirit, Jim and I got a new dog! Her name is Faye, and she is an angel (and a handful)! 

When I last wrote, I was on the brink of heading to St. Louis to perform “It’s in my Nature to Believe,” my big collaborative show about radical love and chosen family performed in a real live circus tent. What an amazing experience, largely because of the true, overwhelming feeling of love and family that I felt among my collaborators including my loving husband Jim Andralis,

longtime friend and collaborator Alex Mutrux playing pedal steel guitar, my old bandmate from 37 years ago (!), bassist Donald Williams, my duet partner the legendary country crooner Mort Hill,

St. Louis’ LGBTQIA+ chorus for all voices the Black Tulip Chorale led by Robert Stumpf, 

my sisters for life, the Aerialas: Kelly Cunningham, Rosie Fay, Rebecca Hellemans, Echo Lalia, Lisa Tang, and Lauren Weiler with their house mother Alison Headley, owner and director of St. Louis Aerial Collective (or SLAC), 

and, very significantly, my best friend for-literally-ever, Becca Schock.

I have felt a communal high before in some of my past performances, particularly in “What A Difference” at Joe’s Pub and “Loving You is Easier” at The 8^th Floor,  but this one reached new heights in the tingle and cry department. Something about that expanse of space and those gorgeous Aerialas flying above me as I sang songs that mean so much to me already, the band coming together and sounding so full and legit, my husband emerging from the bleachers to join me onstage singing one of the most romantic songs I can think of, sharing the stage with so many people I’ve known for 20, 30, 40 years, and the hundreds of people in that huge space watching and connecting with us. It was beautiful.

Coming down was hard, though, and the usual nuts and bolts involved in the chore of following-up were more excruciating than usual, so once I returned to New York and got all the costumes cleaned and in order, I made it my mission to find a way to build off what we did and find a venue in New York to make it happen. I have done that, and you’ll never believe where the next Larry Krone and Family production, complete with the Aerialas and everything—is set to take place in 2027! You won’t believe it, and you won’t know it yet, either, because I kind of don’t believe it’s true and I don’t want to jynx it. Once we get an actual date, however, and a contract and whatever else is involved in booking shows at fancy places, believe me, you will KNOW, because I don’t plan to shut up about it!

Just like I haven’t been able to shut up about the fact that I completed my monster piece “Then and Now (Everybody Loves Flowers #4)” after working on it for five fucking years!

It took this long, because of the zillion sequins I sewed onto it one by one, yes, but also because it is way too big for me to have worked on it in my dinky “work” “space” at home, so I saved work on it for when I could have access to a bigger space. I could not have done it without you, Yaddo (where I first started it in 2021 and worked on it again 3 subsequent times including this past February/March when I finished it), Millay Arts, Ox-Bow,  and Alexander Gorlizki who generously loaned me his studio several times so I could work on it between residencies. Thank you, YaMArOBAG!!

Now that the piece is finished, I am doing the less fun part—trying to get it shown! It’s cool to be an independent artist like me and not to be beholden to galleries’ or other people’s representations of me and my work…usually. But at times like this, it would be nice to have someone in my corner hawking my work, so I don’t have to. That said, I have had some nice conversations and meetings with various people and institutions, so we will see what develops. As always, if anyone out there (not limited to curators, gallerists, or collectors) wants to come over to the House of Larréon and look under the hood, on the walls, and—in this case—inside the acid free archival box in which “…Everybody Loves Flowers” is rolled up, please reach out to my secretary (who mysteriously looks and sounds a lot like me but with a pencil behind their ear and wearing a skirt suit and pantyhose) and let’s make a date! 

OK, YADDO! First of all, I’ve been going there so much recently, because over the past two years, I have taken on a position there as a “SAP” (Special Assistant to the President), and the trade-off for fulfilling some duties there is that I got to go 3 years in a row so I could learn how to do it.  The training and duties didn’t take up that much of my days, so the rest of my time there was spent just like a regular guest in a regular studio like everyone else. During this last stay at Yaddo, I spent most of my time gunning it on “…Everybody Loves Flowers.” so I could finish it, but I also worked on my book, did a tiny bit of songwriting, made a couple collages & drawings, and completed two smaller “Then and Now” sequined pieces, suitable for home, gallery, or museum:

Go ahead, WRITING! I have a new fire under me with my memoir, “More Than You Need to Know About an Artist You’ve Never Heard Of”. I’d estimate that I am about ¾ finished with the first draft, so with the end in sight, I am anxious to bring that to 100%! Throughout this process, I have dabbled in the joyous activity of writing a book proposal and sending it out to agents in hopes that they will want to represent me. So far, I have had no luck, but I have been told by all my writer friends that it can take hundreds of tries before you find success, so I am not too disheartened (yet). Happily, along with the rejections, several of the friendlier agents I have solicited have given me some valuable critiques of my proposal and advice about my pitch in general. From this, I have come to accept that my brilliant idea for a multi-genre memoir/prescriptive hybrid is simply not going to fly with publishers who need to know that there will be a place for it on shelves in the well-established sections one finds in all bookstores, so I have streamlined my idea for the book. It is unequivocally a MEMOIR [with elements of other things like my artist’s manifesto, party tips, and an advice column].  Also, it is GOOD. Part of my writing process is to skip around to various chapters, leaving others to sit there for me to return to. When I’ve returned, I have been delighted to discover some great storytelling, compelling descriptions, and funny/salacious sex scenarios (if I do say so myself). For example, going back to read this passage from one of my most recently written chapters, “The Nude Me: I’m Cumming Out,” which chronicles my coming out and the concurrent requisite wild hook-ups garnered from early 2000’s AOL chat rooms (this is BEFORE I got together with Jim in 2004 and fell in love as anyone would but I was lucky enough to be the one to do it and he fell in love with me too and we got married), filled me with immense pride: 

Onmyknees212 was definitely in my area code, if you know what I mean. Early in our first chat, he sent me a photo that illustrated his screen name and what I interpreted to be his general outlook on life, at least as would apply to our purposes in that moment: the black & white photo was taken in profile, full body, wearing only white briefs stretched thin over his protruding ass as caused by the on-the-nose on-his-knees arched-back pose in which he presented himself. He was not fat, burly, hairy, or bear-like at all, but he had my attention, anyway. And it turned out I shared not only my area code with onmyknees212, but we had the same zip code, too—he was living on Avenue C, only a couple of blocks away from me!

There is more where that came from, plus a lot that is less silly and more tender/introspective. I’m trying to get some excerpts published and to participate in readings, so if anyone out there has any leads or opportunities, please let me know!

Speaking of the written word, some people have written words about me over the past year, and I even wrote some words about someone else! I’m talking about press. The thing I wrote was published in Artforum and edited by the wildly talented and equally as witty Alex Jovanovich—it’s just a short blurb about one of my favorite exhibits of the 2025, Stan Douglas’ retrospective at the Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College, but I’m proud of it. The things written about me were pretty minor, but I may as well tell you what they were, right? There were some general reviews of St. Louis’ Circus of Life, of which my performance, “It’s in my Nature to Believe” was a part. My favorite mention was from Jo Rosenthal for Elephant Magazine who wrote “…a musical performance hosted by artist Larry Krone brought the crowd together once more, closing the day with a sense of shared purpose and collective joy as everyone sang the word “love” in unison as men in Hawaiian shirts harmonized.” (She’s talking about Jim getting everyone to sing “love,” and it was beautiful!) Nicolas Poblete wrote in his piece for Impulse Magazine: “Larry Krone—joined by his family band and the Aerialas—performed a few stripped-back country songs interspersed with diaristic soliloquies about home, familial trauma, and queer solace.” There were also nice pictures of me in Hyperallergic and on the St. Louis Public Radio website: 

And if you’re not a fast blinker, you might even have caught me on St. Louis TV hawking the show to a beautiful blonde newscaster and the world:  

Around the time of the St. Louis show was the first big nationwide day of art and activism organized by Fall of Freedom, a group of artists and art workers led by Dread Scott. The New York Times did a piece about it with a group picture including me:

I wish I had done more for Fall of Freedom, but I did round up some participants across the country and helped facilitate a screening of Suzannah Herbert’s great film, Natchez at Film Forum with a conversation afterwards between Suzannah and filmmaker/Broadway & TV star Tonya Pinkins.

To wrap up this press section, those of you on the Yaddo mailing list were treated to a feature in their newsletter about artists (including me) who use fashion in their work. And yes, it was illustrated with a stunning photo of me taken by Todd Oldham for my Look Book.

Speaking of the Look Book (designed by Bruce Burton, published by Larréon Press it Against Me, 2015), during my recent semi-hibernation, I snoozed on its 10-year anniversary! It’s hard to believe that it’s been so long since I almost lost my mind in the particular way that only self-publishing your own hi-end/hi-fashun coffee table/art book can instigate. Don’t worry, I have a plan to commemorate this anniversary! Part of it will be my incorporating the family feeling of the photo shoots that took place throughout several months in 2014 and 2015 into my secret special performance I was teasing about earlier. Those shoots with the incomparable Todd Oldham taking the pictures and my insanely amazing roster of models including Bridget Everett (of course), Jim Andralis, Neal Medlyn, Erin Markey, Kathleen Hanna, Shanta Thake, Molly Pope, Cole Escola, Jenn Harris,  Adrienne Truscott, Carmine Covelli, Becca Blackwell, Presley Oldham, Murray Hill, Tony Longoria, Janet Kennedy, Randy Kennedy, Carin Kuoni, John Oakes, and Frances Sorensen (who also did the hair and makeup for every single model in the shoots!) plus working with the super-talented Kevin Yatarola who took the live concert photos at Joe’s Pub for the book including of the star-studded benefit fashion show with Larréons modeled by many of the above plus Heather Litteer, Clint Asay, Christy Davis, Julie DeLano, Shelley Marlow, Matt Ray, Michele Renkowski, Liz Collins, Amber Martin, Natalie Joy Johnson, Julian Fleisher, Tonya Pinkins, Adam Horovitz, Mike Jackson, and Sawyer DeVuyst were so much work and so fun and affirming of the supportive and loving family we had formed and depended on back then. The other thing I’m going to do is sell a special limited edition commemorative Look Book to those who like these kinds of things. Each book is signed by Todd Oldham, Bridget Everett, and me and comes in its own special spandex drawstring bag sewn and hand-screened by me and embellished with beads from Todd Oldham’s 1990’s fashion archives. No 2 bags alike! Look out for these in my online shop, or if they haven’t shown up there and you’re getting antsy, just reach out to me & see if they’re ready!

Speaking of House of Larréon, the team did have some action over the past year. Truth be told, it was gown city in the âtélièr for a spell! Madame Everett must not go naked, so we made her The Fala Lala, Peach to the Choir, The Peachy Kween, Go Team Titty Tops, The Burning Bush, Floral Arrangement, Pretty Baby/Lady, and L’Amour Est Bleu. Some of these gowns have not yet made their debuts, but here are the main ones that have already graced the stages of Joe’s Pub and venues all over the Midwest and East Coast where Bridget Everett and the Tender Moments toured a few months ago:

I also got a nice little feather in my cap when a vintage Larry Krone BRAND (our Western Wear division of House of Larréon) shirt made an appearance in a TEDx Talk this past December in San Francisco. I might not be smart enough to give one of those things, but Erik Bakke is and so was my shirt!

“OH MY GOAT WILL HE EVER STOP WRITING???”

“Yes.”

“BUT WHEENNNN????”

“In a minute. He just has a couple more things he needs to relay.”

“OKAY, BUT PLEASE, GOURD, LET HIM MAKE IT BRIEF!!”

“Every day in every way.”

In consideration of the desires of my critics up there, I will keep the following trip to Serious Corner brief and just say that I generally have a hard time figuring out how to make visual work that speaks directly about pain and sadness when it hits me hard. I do a better job achieving that with my songwriting and performance, but I tried this summer, and this series of mirror pieces is about the growing up I had to do as I intimately experienced the slow death of a very dear friend and the reverberations that tragedy had among those of us who loved him so much and were so deeply involved in his care at the end. I made these pieces with the wonderful Tommy Schock in mind. May Tommy rest in peace, may he somehow know the impact he made on me and the world around him, and may his memory be a blessing to all of us who knew and loved him.

**Exiting Serious Corner**

I also recently made this one-off piece specifically for my friend, master linocut printer Scott Parker to add to his collection of cigar box art. I kept the box mostly as-is but burned the repeated words “and I will always love you” all over it in spirals. I filled the box with as many matchbooks from my childhood collection as would fit, and apparently somebody was not impressed!  (Please refer to the captions on the blue dialogue balloons.)

Though I hope I get back on track and send another newsletter out before January, I will close by saying in January I will be in a new iteration of John Chaich’s historic and constantly evolving, astute and beautiful “Queer Threads” group show, this time at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. The show will include my piece “Everything I Do is Wrong!” which first debuted in my solo show at Lombard-Freid Gallery in 1996, 30 years ago. 

That show at Lombard-Freid was also host to the first full-evening’s musical performance I ever did, and look at me now 30 years later! (Well, don’t “look at me now” too closely?)  I’m thinking about gathering the family band and my spinoff band Becky & the Machine back together and revamping that show to re-present it with some reflections on the past 30 years. Stay tuned to see if I get it together!

OK, last thing: look out for my piece in the next Visual AIDS “Postcards from the Edge” benefit exhibition when that comes around. Maybe you’ll get to it first & snatch it up for an unthinkably cheap $100! Here’s what I donated last year: 

OK, really last thing: it’s sweater weather! Which also means it’s beanie weather! Check out my store for some chic Fall weather House of Larréon headgear that is guaranteed to turn all the heads that aren’t chic enough to have one on it. $75 cheap and I patched these damn beanies together by hand! 

I leave you with the lyrics of “In a Double Star,” one of my newest songs. I recently posted a video of me singing it on Instagram where I explained a little bit about its origins, so check that out, too, if you desire. Whatever you do, just know that the reviews are already in: “In a Double Star” is an “inspirational hit!” –Jennifer O’Connor

In a Double Star
©2026 Larry Krone
 
You’ve been beaten down
Weighted and on the ground 
Sitting there
Not sure if anyone cares
Waterlogged
By all your tears
Who’ll bail you out 
And get you back on course defying all your doubts

You can’t get up
To the heights you see
There’s a force that holds you down
Mercilessly 
But use your strength
Get your foothold in
I have no doubt about it
You’re gonna win
 
I’ll roll you out
In a double star
Show you the one I love 
Is who you are
I’ll lift you up
Till you’re flying above
Like the center ring star attraction 
Who everyone loves
I’ll be the one to catch you when you fall
But when you’re aflight don’t worry
That won’t happen at all
I’ll roll you out
In a double star
 
On a sawdust floor
Brought to your knees
You’ve stopped dreaming that someday 
You’ll get the chance to be free
But what you don’t know 
Is that you can fly
Just look into my eyes 
And feel yourself rising high
 
I’ll roll you out
In a double star
Show you the one I love 
Is who you are
I’ll lift you up
Till you’re flying above
Like the center ring star attraction
Who everyone loves
I’ll be the one to catch you when you fall
But when you’re aflight don’t worry
That won’t happen at all
I’ll roll you out
In a double star
 
Yes, I’ll roll you out
In a double star

Thanks so much for reading this. I know it’s a long one, but I promise it took me twenty times longer to write it than it probably took you to read it, so who is the sucker? 

Do you want to get me back for assaulting you this way? Please send me updates on what you’re doing, too. It would actually be a pleasure to know!

Oh, and please follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube if you are so inclined.

Thank you, and good night.

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