In 1997, I continued drawing all over the soon-to-be-demolished Hudson's Building. In December, I participated in a group show thanking me for doing the art on there. It was fenced off by then. I was in art exhibits in Detroit and Pontiac. The Zeitgeist Arts Space opened in September. I was part of that from the start.
The SURREAL THEATRE dedications continue through issue Number 11. These include writer Charles Fort, poet Ted Joans and artists Alexander Calder and Wifredo Lam. Lam and Joans are big favorites. Also included are artist Graham Ingels, who drew for EC Comics in the 1950's, Ed Wheelan, who drew a comic strip called Minute Movies, and Chester Gould, who drew Dick Tracy. Number Four's drawings are dedicated to Andre Masson, a Surrealist painter. Other drawing dedications include artists Max Ernst and Louise Bourgeois.
The comic in Number 9 is one of the most abstracted SURREAL THEATRE strips ever. I was feeling my "art brut" in this one. Find the hidden pictures!
Number 10 brings us the 11th annual Emotional Digest. It includes questions of life, death and digestion. Number 16, which I did in New York City, is on smaller, thinner paper.
Numbers 11 through 13 bring the 11th annual Dedications Issues. This is unique in that it went on for two months. I wrote chip off the old block for my parents. For my friend Jacques Karamanoukian I wrote star-head grunts or groans. Falling through the Cracks is for artist Vincent Van Gogh. I wrote poems for surrealist painters Marie Toyen, moth myth and Kay Sage, the boiling process. For bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson, I wrote the preparations. For jazz musician Marion Brown, I created a praying mantis orchestra.
Personal Favorites: Number 2's tall tale, Number 5's Superstitious, Number 7's call out called the Haunted Voice, and Number 12's ritual poem the preparations.
SURREAL THEATRE favorites include comic strips from Numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, and 9.