Mr. Unpredictable, pioneer dub master Lee "Scratch" Perry is about to open his first art exhibition at the age of 75. Announced on his MySpace blog page, the show, cyptictically entitled "Secret Education", is on display from November 13 to December 11th, 2010, at the DEM Passwords Gallery in Los Angeles. Judging from the promo picture, it looks to be an interesting show, the hand prints and foot prints evoking those found in prehistoric cave painting, while the red triangle mouth evokes the sophisiticated, yet primitive symbol-laden mysticism that is often found in his music.
The artist statement is written in the same improvised, medicine man style that characterizes his singing:
I am black shadow, the man and the moon. Paint am I, I am paint. Painted Africa, painted Ethiopia, painted globe. From the center of the Earth to the pinnacle of the sky to the edges of the Universe. Words, words, words, I am words. I am paint. I am art. I am stone and I am perfect, never tell a lie.
Lee 'Scratch' Perry is one of the great artists of the last 100 years. I'm grateful he's still with us.
