Sweet dreams

by Siobhàn O'Connor

"Picture a typical, crummy, Texas-style leather bar in the Village transformed into something very lively using video, performance, music and lights," says local artist Alan St. James of his upcoming Psycho Candy event, a three-part series that kicks off this Saturday, July 7. He and his cohort Zïlon, a kind of Montreal Keith Haring whose best known for his colourful pop paintings and crazy graffiti, have put together a show that defies easy description.

In the tradition of the turn of the century Grand Guignol scene in Paris, where elaborate costumes and silent nightmarish plays were the flavours of the day, Psycho Candy is made up of three skits where a clear narrative is replaced with "a distinct atmosphere and characters who just move from scene to scene," says St. James. While it all seems a little cryptic and confused, the duo promise a night of bizarre and sweet surprises where everyone is welcome. Expect wild masks made of feathers, art videos skipping in the background and lots and lots of candy. This Saturday at the Black Eagle, 1315 Ste-Catherine E., 9 p.m., free.

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