Old World featured in Out Of LINE

I have some color drawings in a new abstract art show called, "Out of LINE," as curated by Jane Georges, a Chicago artist and chocolatier. The rules were for work to "explore line through the eyes of graphic disorder or submission," which was a heady description, and went on to suggest a style called surrealist automatism. Here's a famous and surely very valuable example below, made 78 years ago by Andre Masson, a surrealist French painter who was condemned by the Nazis when they occupied France as a "degenerate," because of some erotic drawings, thus he fled to America. At the airport, American officials confiscated a small pile of erotic drawings hidden in his luggage, and ripped them all up and made him watch. What in the damn world. He ended up heading back to France eventually and now I can look him up on the internet and write a little report about him for my slathering fans. Anyway, I realized after I saw his drawing there that it looks like the same drawing technique I used for these pieces that are in Jane's show. So perhaps you'd like to come on down and get one of them for like a cool hundo! All proceeds go to Wax Breast #1, the fundraiser to allow me to memorialize myself with these filthy little comic stories I've been working on. Honestly, I'm getting sick of working on Tony and Grevin, I just want to kill all of those characters in a car wreck and have them float around in the afterlife for a while, and then maybe start a completely new story, set in an androgynous future ghetto or something. 

Here's my work, which is based on an old drawing I did as a 9 year old kid. It's called Old World, I posted that one last week.I already did that and then made that little banner above, and now as I am at the thirty minute mark of putting together this post, I realize what an internet schill I am, pumping this carefully crafted information into the ether for free, valuable man-hours spent glamorizing myself! Come see them in person! at The Prak-sis Contemporary Art Association and Gallery, on 1917 West Irving Park Rd in Chicago. Use the internet maps. Or use the internet blog videogame young adult arts & crafts sites. 

Here's another one. Drawing these gave me a migraine, which I hadn't suffered in almost a year and almost thought they were behind me. What a terrible phenomenon to happen to people, and I can only hope, even; yes, pray, that they don't increase when I get old and sick. I will also trade these drawings for musical instruments & hardware, or valuable books, so truly, come one come all. The gallery itself is very interesting and a cool part of the community, and some of this work is very, very edgy and completely ballsy, very penetrating stuff. No suddle stunts here, people (said in aggressive old NY Jewish PR woman voice).

Shot by Rivera

D N R trains in Gowanus, Brooklyn. 2010.

New World, 1994

I finally found this again: one of my earliest pieces of saved art, drawn with mechanical pencil aged 9. I held onto this over the years, thinking it was a really good little piece, and it's something I've never really been able to re-create, these little bio-mechanical Aztec bird/jet creatures. 

Shot by Rivera

NYC's Michael T. at the Bowery Poetry Club, circa 2007.

Lost Gloves Music Launch!

Well I have been meaning to post these new illustrations up all week, but I've been out in the big city setting myself up to become a full-time Chicagoan, with a job and a room and everything. Somewhere in that whirlwind of activity, Lost Gloves  officially launched their new EP, Now Face East, as a digital download, and the website features my special illustrations. Each of the six fantastic new tracks features a watercolor drawing with selected lyrics. I'd recommend going over to their site and listening to Brooklyn's new shining star of the indie rock circuit. They've been playing some really good shows lately, so do keep an eye on them. And lookie here for more of my silly shit coming soon, deep-dish Chicago style/hot dog with lots of toppings style/misplaced homo-erotic obsession with failing sports teams style.

Fake Album Covers For Fake Bands

Here's my old fake band, Cologne Factory. I found this photo in an abandoned storage shed in South-Central Texas. A hoarder at heart, finding this shed full of junk was like a little fantasy, and the best part of my road trip to California in Jan 2007 with Tristan, Rich and Becky.

Fake Album Covers For Fake Bands

My new hobby is making fake album covers for fake bands. Sundowners is a fake band I'm in with Pat Thurber. But now The Sundowners are a "real" band on Drag City, which is Will Oldham's label and thus really cool, I guess. I know I greatly admire that strange little man.


Anyway, I will keep making fake album covers for a little while because I'm addicted to being on my computer.

Second Chances

Back to it.

Shot by Rivera

F train guitar player in 2007. Just before this guy had gotten on, I was on another car where a bum had pooped his pants, and there was a huge stinking puddle at his feet.

Shot by Rivera

I took this picture in April 2007 in Manhattan. I'd only been living in the city for a few months, and it was just starting to warm up. I worked at the bookstore on 2nd Ave. and 33rd street, and on my lunch break, I used to walk around looking for pictures to snap (which is how I got this one), and eavesdrop on the truly crazy and often obnoxious people who seemed to be lifelong residents to the area. Once, I followed a couple in their sixties for many blocks, while they had a screaming argument, the woman shreiking and screaming, "why don't you love me anymore?!" as the man shrugged and told her to leave him alone. The woman kept beating on her chest and trying to block his way, and it was so weird to see because they just looked like normal old people, and it was something like 10am on a Tuesday.

The bookshop was just down the street from Bellview Mental Hospital, and patients would get day passes, and tended to spend a lot of time in our store, making messes out of the Metaphysical, Manga, and Sex sections, masterbating in the bathrooms, and in general providing one more insane aspect to my very bizarre new life in the city.