More cuteness at www.parorobot.com

Friday, April 3 at 7pm Bow Ribbons, Paul Leonard and Usun
Closing performance on Sunday, April 5 at 6pm Usun and special guests

from near the sea, like Whitman my great predecessor, I call
To the spirits of other lands to make fecund my existence

do not spare your wrath upon our shores, that trees may grow
upon the sea, mirror of our total mankind in the weather

one who no longer remembers dancing in the heat of the moon may call
across the shifting sands, trying to live in the terrible western world

here where to love at all’s to be a politician, as to love a poem
is pretentious, this may tendentious but it’s lyrical

which shows what lyricism has been brought to by our fables times
where cowards are shibboleths and one specific love’s traduced

by shame for what you love more generally and never would avoid
where reticence is paid for by a poet in his blood or ceasing to be

blood! Blood that we have mountains in our veins to stand off jackals
in the pillaging of our desires and allegiances, Aimé Césaire

for if there is fortuity it’s in the love we bear each other’s differences
in race which is the poetic ground on which we rear our smiles

standing in the sun of marshes as we wade slowly toward the culmination
of a gift which is categorically the most difficult relationship

and should be sought as such because it is our nature, nothing
inspires us but the love we want upon the frozen face of earth

and utter disparagement turns into praise as generations read the message
of our hearts in adolescent closets who once shot at us in doorways

or kept us from living freely because they were too young then to know what they would ultimately need from a barren and heart-sore life

the beauty of America, neither cool jazz nor devoured Egyptian heroes, lies in
lives in the darkness I inhabit in the midst of sterile millions

the only truth is face to face, the poem whose words become your mouth
and dying in black and white we fight for what we love, not are.

I went to Chelsea yesterday to see the Simon Evans’ show at James Cohan before it closes on April 4th.  I think I saw his very first solo show at Adobe Books in San Francisco maybe five years ago.  Of course he is very famous now, but I can still strangely remember almost all his work from that first show.  The cassette tapes, little bags of crumpled paper packed like consumer goods, all the tape and little scrawled phrases.  This show is very good, but I still think that one, in Adobe’s closet size space was better.

Another show not to be missed is Tanyth Berkeley’s at Danziger Projects, up until April 25th.  They just moved into a new, larger space on W. 24th.  Every photograph in the show is a portrait of an albino woman named Grace that the artist has been photographing for seven years.  I loved Tanyth’s description of her subject from the press release as “a combination of Marilyn Monroe and the moon.”

It features an amazing of selection of art, design, and photography books.  A true hidden gem.

My friend Aaron Harris is having a show is Seattle.  He says: These paintings, unless otherwise noted, take place in or near West Seattle. Scandinavia and Japan are also involved. Some are based on true things that have happened, and for those, I’ve included descriptions in the titles.

You should imagine Whale “sounds” when possible while viewing these paintings.

Some thinking ideas while viewing the paintings are: the internet, stucco walls, salt water, wood saunas, how many people there are in this crazy world, how you feel about what happened to you in your day so far, or what’s happening to you right now, how long or short things have been around, and what they where before they are what they are now, and if you’re around people, you can think about them.

Please refrain from thinking about your boss, your crazy schedule, downward spirals, or pussyfooting around. Remember to enjoy! Yourself.

Their mission statement says:

Hess & Hodi is a virtual gallery dedicated to displaying affordable prints and original works of art (generally under $300), geared towards people who are just beginning to build collections.

The site also has links to many other sites with affordable art.

Portland artist Becky Walton also mentioned my work on her blog Morning Craft.

Make sure to check out her work too. She does some really lovely paintings with unicorns, bright foliage, and fantastical underwater scenes. Hmm, wonder why she likes my work?

Thanks bloggers!