Kim Gordon is born in Rochester. After graduating from the Otis College of Art and Design in L.A. she moved to New York, and worked for several Soho art galleries in the early 1980s. At Jo Bear's request she compiled an exhibition for his new White Columns gallery in 1982.
Mike Kelley and
Tony Oursler were participants.
Dan Graham invited her to join a performance of an all female rock band, which marked the start of her first band, CJM.
Together with Thurston Moore, Lee Renaldo, and Richard Edson, she formed
Sonic Youth in 1981, a band that she has been a member of ever since. Gordon has toured extensively with Sonic Youth, and has performed in major venues and festivals in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia. She has directed videos for The Breeders, co-produced Hole's album, "Pretty on the Inside", and, in 1994, started the clothing line, X-girl. The artist-musician has lived and worked in New York since 1980.