DEVENDRA BANHART'S SOME DRAWINGS OPENS AT DIVERSEWORKS

You gotta dig Devendra Banhart. He’s like the Don Ho of contemporary folk music. But instead of inspiring people to buy Hawaiian guitars, we can credit him with putting enough earth tones and tape hiss into iPods to beat back the ever rising rivers of slick and shtick. And as if his own output wasn’t enough, he was also smart enough to do a split with our still-claimed Jana Hunter and even put out her latest record, There’s No Home, on his label. Turns out, though, then when he’s not busy doing any of the above or making face paint look cool outside of Mad Max films, he’s doing a bit of drawing. So much so, in fact, that he’s got a show opening up this Friday at Diverseworks, the Grand Central Station of places to go in Houston when it’s time to ingest a bit of the finer arts without all the stodge and stiff.

SAYETH THE PRESS RELEASE:

Small, fine-line ink drawings combine strange and sometimes beastly human and animal figures, ornamental framing devices, abstract symbols and bits of language to create oddly charming works that defy definition. Intimate and hypnotic, Banhart’s works on paper share affinities to Tantric diagrams and Indian narratives, giving rise to fantastic private worlds.

Awesome. For the opening reception, which is free and held concurrently with one for Claude Wampler’s PERFORMANCE (career ender), there will be sets by three local chanteuses, the names of who DiverseWorks PR master Shawna Forney absolutely refuses to disclose to us (What is it with all the secret shows lately?). However, she did give the hint that all three were present for the Unusual Animals event, so go back and take a look at our photos of the day and see if you can figure it out. Our prediction: Bret Shirley in a wig, Will Adams in a Wig and Claire Sprouse’s debut performance as the Reggae Weed Crab. Or not.

More information about the exhibition, which runs until December 15th, is available on the DW website. Free. Starts at 6pm.

Photo by Lauren Dukoff