December 13, 2006

Music Meets Art

With visual artists making noise and musicians picking up paintbrushes, the realms of art and music are increasingly intertwined these days. A slew of exhibitions celebrate artist-musicians this year, from singing conceptualists like Tracy + the Plastics and Martin Creed to artsy crooners like David Byrne and Devendra Banhart. We profile Bjorn Copeland of Black Dice, who rocks experimental sounds and composes intricately geometric collages; and Guy Richards Smit, of Maxi Geil! & PlayColt, talks to us about the alter egos animating his paintings and performances. We review an alternative biopic of outsider musician-artist Daniel Johnston, and look at exhibitions around the globe, including Charles Ray's new monochrome retrospective in Oslo and Matthew Cusick's cartographic mashups in San Francisco.