The other side(s) of Evan Dando

One thing I learned about Evan Dando is that as random as his actions seem, each one of them has a meaning. Even if it’s just a joke. And once again he, personified as Antonia, filled my messenger with all sorts of photos he found in her archives, including a copy of her passport, which, by the way, I promised not to clone.

But in the last batch of images and videos, what caught my attention the most was the quality of his latest paintings (yes, as you should know, we’ve mentioned Evan’s plastic artist side a few times here). So, Evan, if your intention was to motivate me to make this post, good job! But if your intention was just to mess with Antonia, good job too!

When I was a twerpy 18 years old acid enthusiast had to do non homework doer. I stopped listening to rock for a year and got really into Bach, Ben Britten, Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Erich Dolphy, Elvin Jones, Monk, Mingus, Paul Chambers, Tony Williams, Max Roach, Freddie Hubbard, James Joyce, Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Corbet, Polanski, Angela Carter, Paul Boules, etc, etc. It was all highbrow until I saw Flipper in 1984 at the channel in Boston. Made me wanna be a stubborn reprobate. The Angry Samoans were a big part of it as were Gang Green, SSD, The Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Flipper of course, The Volcano Sun, The Blake Babies, Kilslug, The Stooges, The Mother Lovers, The Vaselines, The Louvin Brothers… I suddenly wanted to be in a band. 

Evan Dando

As a graduate of modern art, I’m just as interested in Evan’s work in that field as I am in music. For me, it’s an abstract that at the same time draws from the pop art of guys like Basquiat. But I decided to invite my friend and one of the greatest Brazilian painters, Fernando Pacheco, to evaluate some of Evan’s work, especially the painting he did for me which included real grass from Serra da Cantareira, his new home.

The work is worth more and a lot, for the personality that made it, Evan Dando/Lemonheads. It’s an expressive record of his mind, in language outside of music. The explosion in catharsis is moving, in addition to his desire to celebrate this new nature that he has entered here in Brazil. Strong moment and full of energy. Paul Klee, built work always dealing with balance. Here we see Evan more for the imbalance of forms, in an explosive atmosphere of expressionist volcanic hurricane..lol… Like I said, the paintings are worth more, for who he is.

Fernando Pacheco

Evan, the painter, also has the unrestricted support of another important artist, in this case, his mother. Of his recent work, she says: “He’s really very good. He gets composition instinctively and that is so important. Also, every cell in him is creative so he must always be creating“.

He’s on the beach

Another curious side of Evan it has to do with his passion for fishing. But, more than a hobby, fishing runs in the family, according to Susan. “I have fished since I was 4 and fly fish now. Jeff (Evan’s dad) and I were both avid fisher kids, so it was both of us. Ev and I used to have,” snapper” contests to see who could catch the most in one session“, she recalls. For Susan, fishing has nothing to do with nostalgia: “We all still love to fish alone or together“.

Maybe now that he’s heading back to Brazil at this moment Evan will have more luck and finally catch some robalo. Or maybe he could paint one and write a song about it…. Who knows? When it comes to Evan Dando, everything is about art.