Arts Devo

Stay weird, my friends Arts DEVO was blown away by the amazing array of weirdos who came together and shared their unique visions with the community for CN&R’s fourth annual Keep Chico Weird festivities. Chico came out in droves to overfill the 1078 Gallery for the art opening and sell out the El Rey Theatre for the talent show.

While I consider all y’all a bunch of freaks and exactly the kind of fabulous humans with whom I want to share my time in this circus that is America, some of you won prizes for your good work.

At the art show, the reception-night audience members voted for their faves and third place went to Candy Cougar’s three-panel “Portrait” series; Amaris Cardenas’ iridescent, orange and blue acrylic “Butterfly Kisses” took second; and the Best of Show winner was Ze Treasure Troll’s wonderful abstract ceramic sculpture installation, “Regular Chico Family.”

And at Saturday night’s talent show, there were top three acts—judged on performance/execution (10 points possible), audience reaction (10 points) and originality/weirdness (20 points). Third place: The Nibiru Chronicles (a live version of local funk band GravyBrain’s intergalactic Web series); second place: Mike Bogowitz (local acrobat who spun around in his impressive giant metal cyr wheel, blowing minds with his feat of strength and balance); and first place: comedian Trip Hazard, who punctuated his dry, weird-ass delivery with a slideshow presentation and a strategically placed “censored” bar.

Congratulations! See you all next year.

Still more art The little train car that could and does show the best of local artists is hosting a show of Kandis Horton-Jorth’s mixed-media works for the month of February, with a reception on Friday, Feb. 3, 5-7 p.m. Horton-Jorth is also a regular contributor to the Keep Chico Weird shows, and her lovely “The Peculiarities of Her Faith” (pictured) was part of this year’s exhibit.

A Very Marley Party Sipho’s Jamaican restaurant has been on a winter break for nearly a month and this Saturday, Feb. 4, starting at 11 a.m. (and going to “late”), it will reopen in style. As it will take place a couple of days before the reggae legend’s Feb. 6 birthday, the party is being billed as a “Bob Marley Pre-Birthday Bash” as well as a kick-off for Black History Month, and will feature live music (by Triple Tree & Conquering Lion Band), DJs and, of course, a buffet-style feast. All for only $10.

Don’t call it a tribute The The Uncle Dad’s Art Collective is once again making a show based on one of the greatest albums ever recorded (see their past productions of Led Zeppelin IV, Prince’s Purple Rain and Queen’s A Night at the Opera). This weekend, in conjunction with Chico State’s Chico Performances, the crew is mounting its latest ambitious endeavor, titled Abbey Road, for a two-show run at Laxson Auditorium, Feb. 3-4.

As with their previous album-related shows, this is not a mere cover night with a band playing an album from start to finish. For their adaptation of The Beatles’ 1969 classic, the collective has once again corralled a massive ensemble of artists—more than 60 performers—including an orchestra, a chorus of singers, dancers, animators, lighting designers, costumers, acrobats, and even a slew of guest bands from the Chico music scene. The intent is to use the source material, as well as a handful of The Beatles’ other masterworks (“A Day in the Life,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” etc.) as inspiration for an entirely new presentation, an original theatrical interpretation that Uncle Dads’ ringleader Joshua Hegg says will “follow a single character, who awakens into a world of disorder and chaos, each time she opens a new door, she and the audience will experience something completely new.”