David Lester's Blog, page 3
August 25, 2012
The Black Dot Museum of Political Art
The Black Dot Museum of Political Art will be at Northern in Olympia, Washington for the second time since 2010, featuring art by members of the rock duo Mecca Normal.
PRESS RELEASE, tour dates, images, video: http://blackdotmuseumrooms.wordpress.com
Guitar player David Lester exhibits new paintings, panels from his graphic novel The Listener and illustrations from his weekly Magnet Magazine online column "Normal History".
Jean Smith 's new paintings include a "Pussy Riot" series and artwork by a character from her recently completed novel called The Black Dot Museum of Political Art about a narcissist who attempts to prevent an environmentally destructive coal mine from opening off British Columbia's pristine coast.
Saturday, September 1, 2012 -- opening reception for The Black Dot Museum of Political Art at Northern: the Olympia All Ages Project. Artists in attendance 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Free. The month-long art exhibition leads into a west coast tour in October that starts in Olympia.
Saturday, October 6, 2012 -- Timberland Library. David Lester presents The Listener graphic novel -- a tale of complacency, art, power and murder (Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2011). The Listener was a finalist for a ForeWord Reviews' 2011 Book of The Year Award in the graphic novel category. Mecca Normal will perform new material from Jean Smith's two recently completed novels, The Black Dot Museum of Political Art and Obliterating History -- a guitar-making mystery, domination & submission in a small town garage.
Mecca Normal West Coast Tour clubs / classrooms / bookstores / libraries / art galleries
http://meccanormal.wordpress.com
Interviews and more information: meccanormal@hotmail.com
Exhibition details: opening 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 1 to Friday, September 30, 2012
Northern: the Olympia All Ages Project
414 1/2 Legion Way,
Olympia, WA 98501
Gallery Hours:
most Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment
gallery@NorthernOlympia.org
The Black Dot Museum of Political Art functions online with touring exhibits of political art. http://blackdotmuseum.wordpress.com
Newsletter http://meccanormal.wordpress.com
updates to EVENT on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/events/125936...
The Listener graphic novel http://thelistenergraphicnovel.wordpr...
David Lester's Art http://tinyurl.com/9ttxtpg
Jean Smith's Art http://tinyurl.com/8k85ocs
PRESS RELEASE, tour dates, images, video: http://blackdotmuseumrooms.wordpress.com
Guitar player David Lester exhibits new paintings, panels from his graphic novel The Listener and illustrations from his weekly Magnet Magazine online column "Normal History".
Jean Smith 's new paintings include a "Pussy Riot" series and artwork by a character from her recently completed novel called The Black Dot Museum of Political Art about a narcissist who attempts to prevent an environmentally destructive coal mine from opening off British Columbia's pristine coast.
Saturday, September 1, 2012 -- opening reception for The Black Dot Museum of Political Art at Northern: the Olympia All Ages Project. Artists in attendance 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Free. The month-long art exhibition leads into a west coast tour in October that starts in Olympia.
Saturday, October 6, 2012 -- Timberland Library. David Lester presents The Listener graphic novel -- a tale of complacency, art, power and murder (Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2011). The Listener was a finalist for a ForeWord Reviews' 2011 Book of The Year Award in the graphic novel category. Mecca Normal will perform new material from Jean Smith's two recently completed novels, The Black Dot Museum of Political Art and Obliterating History -- a guitar-making mystery, domination & submission in a small town garage.
Mecca Normal West Coast Tour clubs / classrooms / bookstores / libraries / art galleries
http://meccanormal.wordpress.com
Interviews and more information: meccanormal@hotmail.com
Exhibition details: opening 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 1 to Friday, September 30, 2012
Northern: the Olympia All Ages Project
414 1/2 Legion Way,
Olympia, WA 98501
Gallery Hours:
most Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment
gallery@NorthernOlympia.org
The Black Dot Museum of Political Art functions online with touring exhibits of political art. http://blackdotmuseum.wordpress.com
Newsletter http://meccanormal.wordpress.com
updates to EVENT on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/events/125936...
The Listener graphic novel http://thelistenergraphicnovel.wordpr...
David Lester's Art http://tinyurl.com/9ttxtpg
Jean Smith's Art http://tinyurl.com/8k85ocs
August 15, 2012
Political Art Show, Classroom & Library Events
September
Olympia – Saturday, September 1, Northern: the Olympia All Ages Project
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Opening Reception for The Black Dot Museum of Political Art a month-long exhibition of art by David Lester (including panels from The Listener) and Jean Smith.
October Tour on the West Coast
David Lester and Jean Smith present The Listener graphic novel with “How Art & Music Can Change the World” in classrooms and libraries, with art from The Black Dot Museum of Political Art
Olympia – Saturday, October 6, Timberland Library
David Lester and Jean Smith present The Listener graphic novel, a performance event featuring Mecca Normal
Portland – Sunday, October 7, Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center
Mecca Normal show
Salem – Monday, October 8, Willamette University
“How Art & Music Can Change the World”
San Francisco – Wednesday, October 10, SF Public Library
David Lester will read from The Listener graphic novel at LitQuake Radar Reading Series.
LA – Sunday, October 14, HRLA art and performance space
Mecca Normal show
LA – Monday, October 15, Loyola Marymount University
“How Art & Music Can Change the World”
Olympia – Friday, October 19, Evergreen State College
“How Art & Music Can Change the World”
WEST COAST TOUR in OCTOBER 2012
David Lester and Jean Smith of MECCA NORMAL will be reading from their books, presenting classroom and library events and Mecca Normal will be playing shows. Complete dates here: http://meccanormal.wordpress.com
July 27, 2012
A performance adaptation of "The Listener" graphic novel
In October, 2012, on the west coast, there will be a performance adaptation of "The Listener" graphic novel in libraries with Mecca Normal shows in rock venues and a Black Dot Museum of Political Art pop-up exhibition of David Lester's Magnet artwork with paintings by characters in Jean Smith's novel "The Black Dot Museum of Political Art" plus "How Art & Music Can Change the World" in classrooms including songs from Jean Smith's recently completed novel "Obliterating History – a guitar-making mystery, domination & submission in a small town garage"
Please contact me if you are a library, bookstore, music venue, classroom and would like to have us give our presentation.
David Lester: davidlester735@hotmail.com
Please contact me if you are a library, bookstore, music venue, classroom and would like to have us give our presentation.
David Lester: davidlester735@hotmail.com
My 2012 Summer Reading List
Top 5 books to make you feel better about your vacation:
1. Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Graphic Novels edited by George A. Walker. In my family it was Twenty Vacationless Years. Okay, once we went to Penticton, but I remember nothing of it. My summers consisted of riding my bannana-seated bike to play in the ravine and looking at art books. Years later, this collection of powerful prints by Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, Giacomo Patri and Laurence Hyde served as a visual inspiration for my graphic novel. The kind of inspiration that a vacation is supposed to give you.
2. Look Down, This Is Where It Must Have Happened by Hal Niedzviecki. I went to the West Bank last year for a vacation of sorts. There is nothing that can illuminate a situation like seeing it for yourself, but Niedzviecki’s short stories of lost souls worn down by the world brought a bigger picture into focus with words.
3. My Year of The Racehorse by Kevin Chong. As a kid, I went to the racetrack with my family all summer. I scoured the stands for discarded betting slips, looking for winners tossed away by mistake or in disgust, before the race was over. When I found a winner, I dutifully gave it to my dad. This book is a very funny memoir of owning a racehorse.
4. The Black Dot Museum of Political Art by Jean Smith. Visiting cool, dark art museums is my idea of summer fun and when Nadine MacHilltop opens the door of her museum we're off on an exhilarating tale of political art and narcissism. One of the perks of being a friend of a writer is getting to read their manuscripts before publication. http://jeansmith.wordpress.com/
5. Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, & Me by Sarah Leavitt. A compelling graphic novel memoir that is both funny and sad; a reminder of the fragility of life as we decide which imaginatively flavoured gelato to order on a warm summer night. "Will that be a cup or a cone, bella?"
Top 5 books you want to read this summer, but won’t:
1. Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan. I think it might be better to read a book about the carving up of Europe in winter.
2. The world's most dangerous woman by Theresa Moritz and Albert Moritz. Actually, I will be reading this bio of Emma Goldman as research for my next graphic novel.
3. The Time We All Went Marching by Arley McNeney. The first political book I ever read was during the summer when I was 10. It was a book about Che Guevara that I’d taken out of the library. Now, over 40 years later I plan to read a book about the on-to-Ottawa trek of unemployed workers.
4. Hark A Vagrant by Kate Beaton. I've heard many great comments about this book. It was given to me as a present, but like books I've taken to read on tour with my duo Mecca Normal, I may not get around to it.
5. Shoot It! Hollywood Inc. and the Rising of Independent Film by David Spaner. I don't think I've ever had a sun tan. I’ve always been more comfortable in the darkness of movie theatres than at the beach. I will read parts of this book as I watch the films mentioned, so it will take longer than the summer to read. That is a good thing.
Book you want to be seen reading at the beach:
Seeing Reds: The Red Scare of 1918-1919, Canada's First War on Terror by Daniel Francis. An excellent book about the suppression of political dissent in Canada. A subversive read between bouts of beach volleyball. Spike!
David Lester is the guitarist in Mecca Normal and author of the graphic novel The Listener (nominated for a 2012 ForeWord Reviews' Book of The Year).
1. Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Graphic Novels edited by George A. Walker. In my family it was Twenty Vacationless Years. Okay, once we went to Penticton, but I remember nothing of it. My summers consisted of riding my bannana-seated bike to play in the ravine and looking at art books. Years later, this collection of powerful prints by Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, Giacomo Patri and Laurence Hyde served as a visual inspiration for my graphic novel. The kind of inspiration that a vacation is supposed to give you.
2. Look Down, This Is Where It Must Have Happened by Hal Niedzviecki. I went to the West Bank last year for a vacation of sorts. There is nothing that can illuminate a situation like seeing it for yourself, but Niedzviecki’s short stories of lost souls worn down by the world brought a bigger picture into focus with words.
3. My Year of The Racehorse by Kevin Chong. As a kid, I went to the racetrack with my family all summer. I scoured the stands for discarded betting slips, looking for winners tossed away by mistake or in disgust, before the race was over. When I found a winner, I dutifully gave it to my dad. This book is a very funny memoir of owning a racehorse.
4. The Black Dot Museum of Political Art by Jean Smith. Visiting cool, dark art museums is my idea of summer fun and when Nadine MacHilltop opens the door of her museum we're off on an exhilarating tale of political art and narcissism. One of the perks of being a friend of a writer is getting to read their manuscripts before publication. http://jeansmith.wordpress.com/
5. Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, & Me by Sarah Leavitt. A compelling graphic novel memoir that is both funny and sad; a reminder of the fragility of life as we decide which imaginatively flavoured gelato to order on a warm summer night. "Will that be a cup or a cone, bella?"
Top 5 books you want to read this summer, but won’t:
1. Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan. I think it might be better to read a book about the carving up of Europe in winter.
2. The world's most dangerous woman by Theresa Moritz and Albert Moritz. Actually, I will be reading this bio of Emma Goldman as research for my next graphic novel.
3. The Time We All Went Marching by Arley McNeney. The first political book I ever read was during the summer when I was 10. It was a book about Che Guevara that I’d taken out of the library. Now, over 40 years later I plan to read a book about the on-to-Ottawa trek of unemployed workers.
4. Hark A Vagrant by Kate Beaton. I've heard many great comments about this book. It was given to me as a present, but like books I've taken to read on tour with my duo Mecca Normal, I may not get around to it.
5. Shoot It! Hollywood Inc. and the Rising of Independent Film by David Spaner. I don't think I've ever had a sun tan. I’ve always been more comfortable in the darkness of movie theatres than at the beach. I will read parts of this book as I watch the films mentioned, so it will take longer than the summer to read. That is a good thing.
Book you want to be seen reading at the beach:
Seeing Reds: The Red Scare of 1918-1919, Canada's First War on Terror by Daniel Francis. An excellent book about the suppression of political dissent in Canada. A subversive read between bouts of beach volleyball. Spike!
David Lester is the guitarist in Mecca Normal and author of the graphic novel The Listener (nominated for a 2012 ForeWord Reviews' Book of The Year).
June 23, 2012
ForeWord Reviews’ Book of the Year Finalist
I am honored that The Listener, was a finalist for a ForeWord Reviews “Book of the Year Award” in the Graphic Novels & Comics (adult nonfiction) category. I wish to thank ForeWord Reviews and librarians for their fantastic response to my book.
ForeWord Reviews’ Book of the Year Award
I am honored that my book, The Listener, was nominated for a ForeWord Reviews “Book of the Year Award” in the Graphic Novels & Comics (adult nonfiction) category. I wish to thank ForeWord Reviews and librarians for their fantastic response to my book. The results were announced today at the American Library Association’s annual conference in Anaheim, California.
May 21, 2012
THE LISTENER graphic novel nominated
The Listener graphic novel by David Lester has been nominated for ForeWord Reviews' "2011 Book Of The Year Award" in the graphic novel category. ForeWord Reviews is a U.S.-based magazine primarily for librarians and booksellers and focuses on small and independent publishers. The winners are announced at the annual conference of the American Library Association in Anaheim, CA on June 23, 2012.
The Listener was published by Arbeiter Ring, co-founded by John K. Samson of the band The Weakerthans.
David Lester is the guitarist in the underground rock duo Mecca Normal -- currently working on a new CD.
The Listener contrasts the true story of the 1933 election that brought Hitler to power with the fictional death of a political activist.
List of nominees in the Graphic Novel Category:
http://www.bookoftheyearawards.com/fi...
■ The Listener by David Lester (Arbeiter Ring Publishing)
■ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (The Porcupine's Quill)
■ Anne Steelyard, The Garden of Emptiness by Barbara Hambly (Penny-Farthing Press)
■ Jim Henson's Tale of Sand by Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl (Archaia Entertainment)
■ Lost Trail by Donn Fendler, with Lynn Plourde (Down East Books)
■ Rust by Royden Lepp (Archaia Entertainment)
LINKS:
The Listener:
http://thelistenergraphicnovel.wordpr...
Mecca Normal:
http://meccanormal.wordpress.com/
The Listener was published by Arbeiter Ring, co-founded by John K. Samson of the band The Weakerthans.
David Lester is the guitarist in the underground rock duo Mecca Normal -- currently working on a new CD.
The Listener contrasts the true story of the 1933 election that brought Hitler to power with the fictional death of a political activist.
List of nominees in the Graphic Novel Category:
http://www.bookoftheyearawards.com/fi...
■ The Listener by David Lester (Arbeiter Ring Publishing)
■ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (The Porcupine's Quill)
■ Anne Steelyard, The Garden of Emptiness by Barbara Hambly (Penny-Farthing Press)
■ Jim Henson's Tale of Sand by Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl (Archaia Entertainment)
■ Lost Trail by Donn Fendler, with Lynn Plourde (Down East Books)
■ Rust by Royden Lepp (Archaia Entertainment)
LINKS:
The Listener:
http://thelistenergraphicnovel.wordpr...
Mecca Normal:
http://meccanormal.wordpress.com/
July 8, 2011
One of the best books of 2011, so far!
The Listener has been selected as one of the best books of 2011, so far, by the School Library Journal (New York).
THE LISTENER is #13 on the All-Canadian Top 30 Comics Bestseller List (Book Manager).
A few recent reviews of The Listener:
"A dense and fiercely intelligent work that asks important questions about art, history, and the responsibility of the individual, all in a lyrical and stirring tone." -- Publishers Weekly (New York)
"This demands to be added to any shelf on which Anne Frank’s Diary, as well as Maus or Miriam Katin’s We Are on Our Own are available." -- School Library Journal (New York)
"Lester’s drawing is wonderfully expressive and the book is an intense and well-structured look at a forgotten pivotal moment in history..." -- Sequential (Canada)
"David Lester depicts the shadowy relationship between words and actions in The Listener. The black guilt that weighs heavily within Louise and the German couple seeps across each page like a Rorschach blot." -- Nicole Gluckstern, SF Bay Guardian (San Francisco, CA)
"The Listener achieves a unity of theme, delving deep into the nature of propaganda, passivity and the possibilities of resistance." -- Hal Niedzviecki, Broken Pencil (Canada)
"A beautifully and powerfully presented story which reveals how each moment in time can have a huge impact upon the future." -- Dun and Red, a readers’ advisory resource blog (Pima County Public Library, Tucson, Arizona)
"The drawings in The Listener are lovely... Lester has a particular skill in depicting the inner lives of his characters, as when Louise visits the Malthausen concentration camp: In one panel, she is shown standing alone; the subsequent pages fill the same frame with a population of ghosts. It’s a powerful image, and an advantage the graphic novel has over a traditional novel or a movie." -- Hasan Altaf, 3 Quarks Daily (Wash, DC)
"Here the little-known history of the Nazi propaganda push in one small German state is rendered in astonishing detail: the political machinations between the right-wing German National People’s Party and the Nazi Party, the eventual agreement that the former would support the latter in Lippe elections, the stifling of the press, the assassination of a reporter, the brave acts of a few, the cowardice of the many... a meditative, memorable graphic novel." -- Andrea Appleton, Baltimore City Paper
THE LISTENER is #13 on the All-Canadian Top 30 Comics Bestseller List (Book Manager).
A few recent reviews of The Listener:
"A dense and fiercely intelligent work that asks important questions about art, history, and the responsibility of the individual, all in a lyrical and stirring tone." -- Publishers Weekly (New York)
"This demands to be added to any shelf on which Anne Frank’s Diary, as well as Maus or Miriam Katin’s We Are on Our Own are available." -- School Library Journal (New York)
"Lester’s drawing is wonderfully expressive and the book is an intense and well-structured look at a forgotten pivotal moment in history..." -- Sequential (Canada)
"David Lester depicts the shadowy relationship between words and actions in The Listener. The black guilt that weighs heavily within Louise and the German couple seeps across each page like a Rorschach blot." -- Nicole Gluckstern, SF Bay Guardian (San Francisco, CA)
"The Listener achieves a unity of theme, delving deep into the nature of propaganda, passivity and the possibilities of resistance." -- Hal Niedzviecki, Broken Pencil (Canada)
"A beautifully and powerfully presented story which reveals how each moment in time can have a huge impact upon the future." -- Dun and Red, a readers’ advisory resource blog (Pima County Public Library, Tucson, Arizona)
"The drawings in The Listener are lovely... Lester has a particular skill in depicting the inner lives of his characters, as when Louise visits the Malthausen concentration camp: In one panel, she is shown standing alone; the subsequent pages fill the same frame with a population of ghosts. It’s a powerful image, and an advantage the graphic novel has over a traditional novel or a movie." -- Hasan Altaf, 3 Quarks Daily (Wash, DC)
"Here the little-known history of the Nazi propaganda push in one small German state is rendered in astonishing detail: the political machinations between the right-wing German National People’s Party and the Nazi Party, the eventual agreement that the former would support the latter in Lippe elections, the stifling of the press, the assassination of a reporter, the brave acts of a few, the cowardice of the many... a meditative, memorable graphic novel." -- Andrea Appleton, Baltimore City Paper
