by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Local art-rock-electro- spastics les Georges Leningrad have just finished up their next album, Sangue Puro, due out in the fall. To celebrate, Poney P, Mingo l’Indien and Bobo Boutin are putting on a show. “This night is a good occasion to find what’s hidden in Bobo, Mingo and Poney’s pockets,” says the vivacious Ms. P. “We have some secret ingredients. We will stomp on our feet. Get down on the Mammal Beats. Reptiles and birds are not allowed.”

Neither are instruments. All three band members will DJ, sharing the jams by Sun Ra, Crucifucks and Plume Latraverse that have inspired their music, but the original works they’re presenting will be on the walls (if somewhat off the wall).

“Now that we are approved by the society and the music biz, we needed to express our talents in a different way. We all turned 30 years old and needed some hobbies appropriate for our age. We have been everywhere in the world, but not deep into the abyss of forms, colours and shapes.”

The visual artworks of Poney and Bobo have graced the band’s previous records, but Mingo l’Indien (who really is part Micmac and Huron) makes his debut in that realm with portraits of renowned native chiefs and Québécois hockey commentators. “When I was young, my big chief was Michel Bergeron of the Quebec Nordiques,” says Mingo. “It’s for me a return to my roots.”

Bobo Boutin, on the other hand, has been accumulating material for years, filling a mountain of boxes in his closet (recently transferred to the “permanent collection” of the basement stairs chez sa mère). With an unseemly degree of enthusiasm, Boutin describes his contributions: “I will show you my bats! A girl going out with a nose! I don’t really think about what I am drawing and painting! I am using coloured tape and the technique of collage is my favourite! I also did a kind of a bearded sexual predator and I was afraid right after doing it! But, it’s only artwork! I don’t care if it is sick-looking or pointless or ugly!”

For her part, Poney’s pairing up sex and athletics. “I started this series of paintings about sports,” she says, “and it includes also a painting called ‘Mammal Beats,’ the name of a new song of the next album, that represents people dancing. I wanted to show the beauty of the rituals of people in seduction—the haircuts, the clothes, the style, the attitude. It’s so cute to see everyone trying so hard. It’s ridiculous and beautiful. Like in sports. Sport is the modern form of hunting and expressing your desire of power. Don’t forget that you are an animal!”

At Casa del Popolo, May 1-31, vernissage
on Monday, May 1, 7 p.m., free