[van-announce] Mecca Normal to play Art Opening

[Mecca Normal]

Hello,
 
Jean Smith of the underground rock duo Mecca Normal here. This spring and summer I will be performing in BC. I need to make contact with musicians, writers, artists, event organizers, art galleries and community activists. I'm booking solo performances and readings, writing workshops, "artist talks" -- 20 years in underground culture, and art shows. And I am looking for a job in BC (beyond the lower mainland... considering the Kootenays, Okanagan, Cariboo) --  newspaper production, communications, gallery staff, farm hand, etc. 
 
I would appreciate any suggestions for art, music and literary events, backyard gatherings, people to meet, and employment possibilities. 
 
Looking forward to hearing back from you! 
 
Thank you,
Jean Smith
Mecca Normal
http://mecca_normal.tripod.com 
 
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PRESS RELEASE:
 
December 10
Interurban Gallery 
9 East Hastings
The gallery opens at 6 p.m. -- performances after 7 p.m. 
A free event.
 
December 10, Vancouver underground rock duo Mecca Normal (Jean Smith & David Lester) will perform at the opening of Drawing Resistance -- a travelling political art exhibit. The event also includes a performance by LOUD.
 
Drawing Resistance is a group art show of two-dimensional artwork by 31 artists from North America. The content based show speaks to matters that are vital to understanding the world today. Some of the subjects include the anti-globalization movement, working class rights, the destruction of the environment, corporate control, police brutality, homelessness, gentrification and the Zapatista liberation movement in Mexico. Check their website for the exhibit schedule.
http://www.drawingresistance.org
 
Regional Representation:
The Vancouver and Victoria exhibits of Drawing Resistance include paintings by Mecca Normal -- David Lester's You Need A Lot Of Money To Create Poverty and Jean Smith's "We're Here Now. Everything Is Ours. Too Bad For You." -- an interpretation of what it might have been like when white people showed up around here. 
 
Art Exhibits:
In September 2003, Jean and David were co-curators of Does It Help When You Close Your Eyes -- a five person art exhibit at Word On The Street, Vancouver's annual literary festival held around the main library. In March 2004, Jean and David have a two person art show at the XENO Gallery (in the back of Dadabase, in Vancouver).
 
Artist Bios:
Jean Smith is primarily known as a woman of many words in the acclaimed literary rock duo Mecca Normal, and as the author of three novels. Jean grew up in a house with two painters for parents, where she, developed a keen visual sense. Painting has remained an integral component in her creative life, a word-free zone providing balance to her expressive nature. Recent themes in Jean's painting include alcoholism, how women and girls perceive themselves, and Native land claims issues. Jean's self-portraits from the past 30 years were shown across North America at Mecca Normal shows, and at Ladyfest LA and the original Ladyfest in Olympia, Washington. Jean's artwork has been used on book covers, in zines and magazines, and on more than twenty-five CD and 7" covers. Her paintings were recently shown in Does It Help When You Close Your Eyes?  -- a group exhibit at the Moat Gallery at Word On The Street. Jean is a regular reviewer of music and fiction for Sound Collector and The Review of Contemporary Fiction. A short story by Jean is online at McSweeney's Internet Tendency. In February of 2003, Jean participated in a performance art piece with Linda Montano at the Western Front. In 2004, Arsenal Pulp Press will publish Only A Beginning by Allan Antliff, a history of anarchist art, including reproductions from Jean's 1980's zine Smarten Up!
 
David Lester's paintings have been shown at Spin Gallery in Toronto and at the Word On The Street festival Moat Gallery exhibit. His multi-panel Noir Canada -- a cautionary tale of how fascism spreads -- was shown on a North American tour in 2002, and recently featured in Broken Pencil, Canada's magazine of underground culture. His cartoons introduce a cast of characters who demonstrate the best and the worst of society. David's work runs regularly in the San Diego Reader. He is the guitarist in the underground rock duo Mecca Normal, where he wordlessly creates musical textures. On their recent art and music tour, Jean and David noticed that they had inadvertently reversed roles in their visual work -- David uses text in his art while Jean tends to steer clear of literal meaning. The Gruesome Acts of Capitalism, by David Lester, will be published next spring by Arbeiter Ring (distributed by AK Press). The book includes an introduction by Jean Smith.
 
20 years of creative collaboration:
Recent Mecca Normal performances have included an art show and an artist talk that outlines How Art and Music Can Change The World. 
 
New CD:
In celebration of Mecca Normal's 20 year anniversary, we have just released a new 12 song CD -- Janis Zeppelin. Arriving between regular releases with Kill Rock Stars, Janis Zeppelin covers different terrain -- 4 songs recorded around 1984 (two of them from the same session as most of our first album), and 2 covers -- our first release of covers ever. Janis Zeppelin is on our label -- Smarten Up! Records (the label that released the first Mecca Normal album in 1986 and has since evolved to include a publishing imprint). SMARTEN UP! & Get To The Point is the publisher of handmade art books, chapbooks of award-winning poetry, engaging experimental fiction, & CDs by cultural & community activists.
 
Mecca Normal is... "an unbending advocate of thoughtful indie culture for almost two decades now, the Vancouver guitar-and-voice twosome doesn't just make demanding music, they also make books, paintings, photos, cartoons, among other things." -- San Francisco Chronicle
 
Art, Lyrics, Newsletter:
http://mecca_normal.tripod.com

meccanormal at hotmail.com