Cloud 9-millimetre

At one time or another, most of us have looked up at a cloud and imagined that we saw something familiar, perhaps an elephant or maybe a dragon or—if you’re Toronto painter John Monteith—it might’ve been a third-generation Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol.

Monteith’s Concealed Weapon show, opening May 7, 3 p.m. at Galerie Accidentelle (5217 St-Laurent), is a series of ethereal, cloudy, blue-sky paintings that, when seen at the right angle, in the right light, reveal images of pistols and automatic rifles. “The series was born of my frustration with imperialist nations, who invade other countries under the guise of peace,” explains Monteith. “Whenever I watch clouds pass overhead in the sky I’m left with an incredible sense of wonder at how elemental forces so intense and destructive can look so soft and peaceful. In my paintings I have superimposed transparent images of handguns and assault rifles over images of clouds, signifying the violence inherent within.” » Raf Katigbak

Ancient spirits, modern dance

This weekend, Tangente (840 Cherrier) opens up its stage to an aboriginal dance exchange, where three choreographers from across the country group together to share their cultures and creations in Candance/Vitrine Autochtone. Local Iroqouis-Mohawk choreographer Gaétan Gingras offers Manitowapan, in which dancer Sophie Lavigne and storyteller Robert Bourdon share ancestral tales through words and movement. Vancouver-based choreographer Byron Chief Moon also draws from the spiritual world with long-time co-creator Karen Jamieson, performing together in Elmer & Coyote. The duo uses a traditional Blackfoot story of creation as well as contemporary music and a mixture of dance styles to touch on the theme of loss. Also, dancer-choreographer Santee Smith performs in a duet excerpt taken from her full-length work Kaha:wi, which translates as “she carries.” This piece uses Iroquoian song and dance in an exploration of the cycle of life and our links to the natural world. The series runs to May 8, 525-1500. » Marites Carino

Palm prints

Sharing is the name of the game with Felino Press’s second series of pretty-much postcard-sized prints. “Our modus operandi is graphic communication,” says participating artist Oily Chi. He’s joined by Luke Ramsey, King Khan, Coco Khan, Eric Heroux and Nikoo in covering the walls of Galerie Espace (4844 St-Laurent) with limited-edition silkscreen prints you can snatch up in multiples and trade with your friends—cool rock ’n’ roll portraits, strange pets and other assorted psychedelia. Felino 555, “fine art for the palm of your hand,” opens today, May 5, at 5 p.m., and continues till the 17th. » Matthew Woodley

Life and a highway

Like the expressway it’s named after, the Décarie exhibition isn’t much to look at, but where it can take you is worth the trip. The exhibition is made up of eight unique projects developed to reconnect art with the communities surrounding the Saidye’s Liane and Danny Taran Gallery (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine). Highlights include: dub poet d’bi. young’s a working woman’s story, May 5 and 7 at 7 p.m. This performance about domestic labour starts with young mopping the floors in the gallery, but ends in a local home that the audience is transported to by bus. Althea Thauberger’s beautiful Décarie Devotional Choir, composed of local individual vocalists, performs this Sunday at 4:30 p.m. On May 31, a video/sound performance by Caroline Hayeur and local musician Myléna Bergeron incorporates photographs of the area taken by eight St-Luc High students. Jean-François Demarais will be living on the streets in Farine Orpheline’s cocoon-like Immédiateur habitable from June 3–5. The event winds-up on June 5 with a mass crawl up Mount Royal with famed American crawler William Pope.L. Info: www.decarie.org or 739-2301. » Christine Redfern

Is it Art?

WHO HEARTS HOPS? It’s only fair, after wondering if caffeinated-beer concoction Molson Kick is art [“Is it art,” March 31], to ask the same of rival brewery Labatt and their cognate buzz juice, Shok. Like Kick, Shok is beer with a dose of the Amazonian hyper-bean known as guarana. It tastes like Labatt Blue mixed with Guru, which, more or less, is what it is. Like Kick, Shok also plays tricks on that blissful buzz that makes beer the holy nectar of the spirit gods by adding a neurosis-inducing caffeine side buzz. Ultimately, it’s a battle for your heart—one to slow the rate, one to speed it up. Art is a battle for the heart too. Available in deps.

ArtsHole

FIDDLING WITH 5s: With nods to the looks of Keith Haring, Jackson Pollock, puzzles, animals, trains and chessboards, to name a few, Louïe Prud’homme keeps one thing consistent: his use of the numeral “5.” His playful exhibition and new book, Quint est Sens, can be found at Galerie 1041 (1041 Marie-Anne) until May 8. • PROCHAINE STATION: “i didn’t plan 2 b a metro rider,” writes metro rider. “it’s just that on that night when i was taking the metro and my stop came up, i couldn’t make myself get up and walk out the door.” Six months and 598 hours of underground experience later, her mysterious exhibition, metro rider, will surface at La Central (4296 St-Laurent) this Saturday, May 7, and continues there until June 5.

ARTISTAT: Number of drawings in Élise Crospal and Rafael Sottolichio’s exhibition, Éphémérides, un an, un dessin par jour, opening on May 12, 5 p.m., at the Maison de la culture du Plateau Mont-Royal (465 Mont-Royal E.) and running through June 4: 760

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