VENICE — We often think of art and music as two mediums that fit nicely together. Just think about the Dutch masters and baroque music, jazz evokes images of brightly colored Deco prints, the Grateful Dead calls up psychedelic Fillmore posters.
But what happens when the musician is also the painter? You get a combination art reception/concert as artist/musician Brooke Halpin performs original compositions during his exhibit at the Talking Stick in Venice on Sunday.
Many of Halpin’s pieces, such as “Paper Rain” have the actual manuscripts of the music manipulated into the canvases. These are torn up and integrated into the paintings, each with its own unique song written to enhance their viewing. Halpin’s band 3 Keepin Lane will be playing those songs.
About the unusual name Halpin said, “My name is Halpin, the guitar player’s name is Barry Keenan, the bass player’s David Lane and the drummer’s Voyce McGinley III, so we took the ‘three’ from McGinley the third, the ‘pin’ from Halpin, the ‘Kee’ from Keenan, and the ‘Lane’ from David and we have this mysterious address called 3 Keepin Lane.”
The California Institute for the Arts alumnus was a composition major but said, “Because all the schools are within the same building, I was hanging out meeting filmmakers and scoring their films, accompanying the dance classes of Bella Lewitzky [noted choreographer] who was the artist in residence in the dance department, I also met a lot of artists.”
Since he was a young boy Halpin said, “I was always messing around with paints.” But he credits the Beatles as his inspiration for learning to play an instrument. “If it wasn’t for the Beatles I may have been just a strict painter.” He saw them on the “Ed Sullivan Show” and the very next day, bought a guitar. To say that Halpin’s a bit of a Beatles fanatic is an understatement. His life story, of his infatuation with The Beatles, which, “takes him on a wild, unpredictable ride, as he adopts a new Beatle-mania identity,” has been fictionalized and is currently being made into a movie called, “A Magical Mystery Tour.”
Halpin’s art is a mixed media acrylic on canvas and is inspired by colors and textures and, of course, music. His free live music/art reception is set for Sunday, Aug. 16 at the Talking Stick in Venice, 1411 Lincoln Blvd. from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Art is available for viewing throughout August. For information call (310) 450-6052.
