First Friday art walk amazes

Last Friday’s First Friday art walk in Downtown Phoenix was one of my favorites of all time. The weather was decent, there was excellent music and the visual and performance art I saw was stunning.

A couple galleries I’d recommend checking out this month, especially on the Third Friday art walk, are Perihelion Arts and Pravus. Perihelion features the pretty and the ugly in its gallery this month. Painter/drawer Rachel Bess has a collection of beautiful works featuring stunning women, some with Gothic and punk styles. The colors she uses are dark, but the images are peaceful and use great detail.

The other artist featured at Perihelion is Chris Mars. One of my friends described his work as “stuff you’d see in hell.” Mars’ paintings are dark and disturbing, featuring grotesque, demon-like figures. While the subject matter may not appeal to anyone, you can't deny the work is striking.

The sister gallery to Perihelion, Pravus, contains the large-scale works of Alex Rubio and Vincent Valdez. Walk into Pravus, and you’ll be bombarded by bright colors and canvases larger than your body—it’s breathtaking. And, the bookstore within the gallery always features quirky works.

At Lost Leaf, I saw a couple cool bands. One was Mondegreen, a local indie rock band repping for the ladies in rock with two females in the six-member band. The group had a ton of energy, and a pretty large crowd danced along throughout their set. They’ll be playing at The Trunk Space on May 5.

Then I saw one of my favorite local bands, Back Ted N-Ted. The group’s sound blends electronic, pop and rock melodies, and vocalist Ryan Breen is charismatic and great at hyping up the crowd. Check out their next show at Chandler Fashion Center May 23.

One of my favorite moments of the night was seeing the Strange Family Circus perform. Dr. Rev. Stephen Strange and his partner, the Mother Fakir, are a great modern day sideshow duo, swallowing razor blades, jumping on broken glass, moving BB’s between eye sockets and more.

The pair is so much fun to watch and amazed the crowd with their stunts. Check out their MySpace at www.myspace.com/thestrangefamilycircus.

At the end of the night, I headed to Space 55, where longform improv troupes Light Rail Pirates and Galapagos perform at 10:30 p.m. every First Friday. If you’re interested in more about longform improv in Phoenix, check out www.thetorchtheatre.com.