Skin deep

Flexx, Divers/Cité's annual outdoor showcase has changed somewhat this year. It's moving inside, for one, and it features a single act, Dave St-Pierre's very provocative erotic work-in-progress, La Pornographie des âmes.

The last time I talked to St-Pierre, just last January when he was profiled as a Mirror Noisemaker, things seemed like they were about to take off. They have indeed. St-Pierre has scored a deal with Le Cirque du Soleil, is about to make his international début in Germany this fall, and his Pornographie is a highlight of the Divers/Cité line-up. "I'm really happy that everything is going well," St-Pierre confesses. "But it's also a little frightening because you want to maintain it."

At last year's FIND, St-Pierre caused a stir with this piece, which tackles head-on subjects of love, sex and violence - complete with graphic images. In his distinct choreographic style, St-Pierre mixes up dance, theatre and performance art. Most of all, he loves to provoke the audience, who, after watching the bold and brutal show, often feel a range of emotions from inspiration, to violation or confusion. It's at Usine C (1345 Lalonde) on Wednesday, July 28, 8 p.m., $30, 521-4493. » Marites Carino

Battlefield break

The West Island isn't likely the first thing that comes to mind when you think of breakdancing - unless you've heard of Illmatic Styles, that is. "I think we're officially the only breakdancing crew in the West Island," says Chris Eagleton, one of the troupe's eight members. They're one of several crews competing in Just for Laughs' Battle of the Year North America on Wednesday, July 24, at Le Medley (1170 St-Denis). The competition pits "real" crews (ie. no all-star assemblies) against each other in six-minute sets, strictly enforced with overtime penalties. And though breakdancing is central, crews are invited to incorporate other dance elements into the show - capoeira, salsa and so on. The winning crew of the competition, as judged by Storm, Qwickstep and Thomas, wins a trip to Germany for the international finales in October. » Marites Carino

Beans and bros

With two new books in tow and a world of praise for both, cartoonist Seth presents his slide show Short Stories About Cartooning at the Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent), July 26 at 7 p.m. Bannock, Beans and Black Tea, illustrated by Seth and written by his 87-year-old pop John Gallant, is a father's memoir of growing up in P.E.I. in the thick of the depression, while Seth's graphic novel, Clyde Fans, is a collection of six issues of his Palookaville series, based on two brothers growing up on Toronto's King E. Both books, beautifully bound and published by Drawn and Quarterly, will be available at the show. » Matthew Woodley

Coco goes quint

Coco Café hostess Mahalia "Miss Thang" Verna is amazed that this Sunday's show marks the fifth anniversary of her career. "It's zipped by! Inobe pushed me in front of the mic back in July 1999," Verna explains. "The performers are the main inspiration… in those five years I got to see quite a few talented artists grow, starting out with their little pieces of paper, and now they have CDs, books, they're touring and getting known outside of Montreal." Verna keeps busy offstage as a film producer, her credits including the 2003 hit Saved By The Belles. Verna's Clara Communications is currently producing a film documentary on local hip hop crew Nomadic Massive, invitees at the 10th anniversary edition of the Havana Hip Hop Festival.

Coco Café's erotica show, Heat, features Lydia Lockett, Jason Joseph, Sista Rae, Howard Parchment and more. July 25, 9 p.m., at the Quartier Latin Pub (318 Ontario E.), $6. » Vincent Tinguely

Is it Art?

AVANT INVESTMENT INTRIGUE: It's no longer a secret that a financial fetish has been brewing in Montreal's art underground. One place this burgeoning movement, referred to by those in the know as "fina-art," can be found is at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (1000 Jean-Paul-Riopelle). Their installation exhibition, The Caisse and Its Investment Story, covers 40 years of Caisse history, including key transactions and the growth of assets under management, broken up into three thematic sites. Covering a dynamic spectrum of issues, history loses no ground to the bigger questions, as points out CEO/curator Henri-Paul Rousseau. "We also point up various myths and realities pertaining to the Caisse," he says. "For instance, the Caisse is not a pension fund but an institutional fund manager." It runs until Sept. 10.

ArtsHole

SUMMER OF LOVE: Toly Kouromalis's chaotic and colourful comic-esque creations adorn the walls of one of one of the small handful of galleries that sticks out the summer swelter, Zeke's (3955 St-Laurent) His Lucid Dreams in a Winter of Death shows until Aug. 22. • SEARCHING FOR SNAPPERS: In preparation for an upcoming exhibition in the fall, local artist Kim Waldron is looking for photographers, pro or not, to go to a special place of their choosing and take a few shots of themselves. In exchange you'll get a fancy enlarged photo and, who knows, maybe your mug in a fancy gallery. E-mail her at kim.waldron@sympatico.ca.

ARTISTAT: Number of vinyl records in Normand Chamberland's collection that he's bringing to Farine Orpheline's Partie profonde 5 à 7, an exhibition of artefacts, from portraits to yard sale junk, that reflect the Centre-Sud neighbourhood, July 28 at the Écomusée du fier monde (2050 Amherst): 8,000

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