Influential and slightly loopy California singer songwriter Daniel Johnston is to follow the release of his umpteenth album 'Is And Always Was' with a live show in Dublin.
Johnston will play live at Vicar St on April 3rd 2010 (that's Easter Saturday to you) with Ducth musical ensemble BEAM Orchestra. BEAM focus on jazz-pop and contemporary music and include saxophones, cellos, violins, double bass, accordion, trombone and more.
In conjunction with this performance, there'll be a special art exhibition presenting over forty of Johnston's drawings alongside early tape covers and rare 7" record sleeves. If you're an art buff it might interest you to know:
"Visual art was Johnston’s initial mode of expression and the exhibition will show drawings from 1981 to 2006. His visual art presents us with an evolving mythological universe made up of characters from his childhood passion for superheroes, Godzilla, King Kong and Bible stories. Life is presented as a spinning continuum of evolution, from innocence to experience, corruption, evil, death and eventual redemption on the spiritual plane. Good is constantly threatened by evil in the form of monsters, dinosaurs and superheroes.
The drawings include a cast of recurring characters in these complex evolutionary relationships, ranging from Jeremiah the Frog representing pure innocence to the Vile
Corrupt and Satan as pure evil. It shows a world in which there are battles between good and evil, with a pathos, simplicity and undeniable humour.
The exhibition aims to highlight these recurring themes, characters and belief systems within his work, in a career that spans over twenty years."
All very highbrow really. Tickets priced €30 are on sale now.
