Exactly that: 6 new paintings from our El Paso buddy Tom Russell. When he’s not making music he’s making art. Or is it the other way around? Check out Tom’s art here.
Tom Russell "Woman With Crow"
Tom Russell "Mexican Circus Dogs"
Tom Russell "Blue Jay Burger"
Tom Russell "Three Eagles"
Tom Russell "Hamburger With Shakes"
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A song & a painting: “Verdun” is the title of a song off of Jon Langford’s album “Skull Orchard.” He’s done a painting of it, which you can see here. And it’s featured in his new book, Skull Orchard Revisited.
Verdun
I don’t feel like talking Or scoring any points
I’m finished now with fighting
I’ve handed in my gun
I know this thing is over & I don’t really care who won
The grass grows thick and green all around Verdun
I lied about my age, so I could volunteer
It didn’t feel like nothing, ooooh small beer
Now I’m on a bus from the hospital
Patched up and well fed
In a badly cut suit with a bandage round my head
I came straight out of shock, back onto the shopfloor
It hurts my eyes to work I can’t seem to get things done
There’s something in between me and everything before
I still taste the earth, all around Verdun
Hoppy’s gone forever, Billy’s gone for good
But part of me came back again, I always knew it would
A snapshot and a postcard that fell into the sun
The grass grows thick and green
All around Verdun
We’ve added art from Julie Paschkis, Brad & Sundie Ruppert, Deborah Mersky, Brian Salvi & Dakota Pratt.
Dakota Pratt
Brian Salvi
Deborah Mersky
Julie Paschkis
Brad & Sundie Ruppert
Although we’ve had the book for a couple of months, now that it’s been officially released we thought we’d revisit it. So to speak. It’s a wonderful book, you’ll learn everything you need to know about Wales and Jon. All of the paintings & prints that are reproduced in the book are here, too. You can find it all here.
Mr Jones lived in a mobile home in the tiny town of Gilliam, Louisiana, a short drive north of Shreveport. Hwy 71 passed through cotton fields & pecan groves, and it seemed every time I made that drive there was a crop duster working one of those fields. In Gilliam was a cafe that had some of his watercolors for sale, but I never bought any of those. Mr Jones lived in a dilapidated prefab house, and every time I visited I found him sitting at a folding tv table in his living room, working on a new piece. His wife would bring out whatever he had for sale & I’d usually buy whatever was there. Mr Jones wasn’t especially chatty but would answer any questions I had about his work.
He drew pictures of life as he knew it (cotton picking) or as he imagined it. I bought a painting once that depicted a group of KKK on horseback. No, he said, he never saw any around there, he’d just heard about them.
Jad Fair & David Fair
New Paper Cut Art
June 11 – July 10
We’re excited to be showing new paper cuts by Jad and David Fair, co-founders of the legendary alt/punk/noise band Half Japanese. Both David & Jad are best-known as musicians but are both accomplished visual artists. They make paper cuts: whimsical, spooky, funny & sometimes symmetrical. Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by the brothers in their Coldwater, Michigan bedroom around 1975. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out of tune (but quite distorted) guitar. Both Fair brothers sang, although over time Jad moved into the frontman role. The band’s history and influence are chronicled in the 1993 documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King by Jeff Feuerzeig.
Jad & David will perform at the opening, accompanied by guitarist Mark Jickling.
Opening Reception in the gallery:
Saturday, June 11
7 – 9 PM
Thursday, March 17, 2011
6:30 – 8:30 PM
Jon Langford meet n greet!
Verse Chorus Press, who put out 2005′s “Nashville Radio,” is releasing a new book of Jon’s writings and paintings. For this book, Langford has created a highly personal portrait of Wales, where he was born and raised. It incorporates a CD featuring Langford’s rare album “Skull Orchard,” originally released in 1998 on a label that promptly went bankrupt, and revamped and extended with live material (and a Welsh male voice choir) for this edition. The songs’ lyrics, at once autobiographical and fanciful, are illustrated in a series of “word paintings” scattered throughout the book, which also includes an A to Z of Welsh culture and history (personal and general), thematically related etchings and paintings, family photographs, and Langford’s first published fiction, a dystopian fable about a whale and a dolphin.
Yard Dog will be showing song paintings based on lyrics from the original SKULL ORCHARD album plus new songs exclusive to SKULL ORCHARD REVISITED.
Stay tuned for more info!