The New Orleans Museum of Art kicks off its 2010 Contemporary exhibition January 29 through May 2 with New Orleans artists Quintron and Miss Pussycat. Parallel Universe: Quintron and Miss Pussycat Live at City Park is designed to get audiences acquainted with the artists' past work while exposing their new work.

Known for their innovative work with puppetry and organ-based music, the exhibition will feature Miss Pussycat’s new video, "Spirit Hair," and an original music album by Quintron, which will be recorded entirely on site at the museum.

Hundreds of Miss Pussycat’s puppets, which fuse together the surreal and whimsical, will be on display in miniature landscapes. Her work ranges from putting together puppet shows for rock concert stages to directing videos with large crews and arranging prerecorded soundtracks.

Quintron, on the other hand, will contribute to Parallel Universe through an interactive display of his patented invention, the Drum Buddy sound machine, and also will undertake recording a full album in the gallery space.

NOMA will also be collaborating with the non-profit Open Sound New Orleans. On a weekly basis, Quintron will send audio updates to Open Sound, which will then be accessible online at their website.

Gallery Spotlight, by Shelby Blitz, is a series of weekly short features on art exhibitions, and the galleries that host them, from all corners of the world.

Quintron and Miss Pussycat performing at The Trunk Space. Photo courtesy of venue.

Name: The Trunk Space
Founded: April 2004
Location: 1506 NW Grand Ave., Phoenix, AZ
Booking contact: JRC via thetrunkspace@yahoo.com.
We recommend including your website/MySpace link, date(s) you would like to play, a description of your sound, and your philosophy in the e-mail too.
Q&A with: JRC, co-owner, curator of art, booker, and sound technician

What type of bands do you book?
We specialize in avant-garde, experimental, and non-commercial folk forms of music. We are also very interested in hosting touring theater acts, film fests, and artwork.

Why did you want to open a DIY venue?
The Trunk Space started as an art gallery, but it made no sense to us to have 1,100 square feet and only use the walls. We saw a need for our town to support non-traditional music and performance, which is our passion, and we just started booking acts.

Is your venue grounded on any ideals?
I'm not sure if they're ideals, but some rules we live by are: be easy to work with, be inclusive, and just because it's not "popular" doesn't mean that it isn't good or valuable. Having said that, we tend to avoid pop and rock acts because we are trying to encourage more experimental work.

What kind of crowd do you attract?
We attract a pretty diverse crowd, mostly teens to late 20s, but there's also a good mix of adults and folks from a wide spectrum of cultures: GLBQT, Latin, vegans, culture jammers, DIY punks, suburbanites, and "old school loves of the underground."

How has the venue been an attribute to a community?
People tend to think of us as the "go-to gang" for anything that doesn't fit in anywhere else. We're not exactly punk, rock, or folk-types. We try to keep a very friendly and unpretentious attitude to what we do.

Also, none of us is really into drinking or drugs; the music and art aren't an excuse for us to have a party. We're very serious about it, so the rest of the scene here may think we're a little square, but we are dedicated and sincere.

Have you been met with any challenges running a DIY venue?
Paying the rent is always hard. Because we don't live in the space and try to give as much back to the performers as possible, some months are pretty difficult.

We are always pushing to spread the word about what we're doing to the largest number of people possible, so overcoming people's expectations can be tough. Making them see the value in a culture that has developed in their own backyards is hard when most of us grew up on diets of TV, commercial radio, and mall fashion.

Aside from live music, do you host any other events or programs in your space?
Yes! We also host two nights of long-form improv each month (www.phoeniximprov.com), a live talk show, occasional classes on a variety of topics, circus sideshows, and burlesque reviews.

Are there any significant musical acts or artists that have drawn a crowd or had a significant performance?
From the local pool, the bands Father's Day and Andrew Jackson Jihad are really coming into their own and getting some national attention. There is also Soft Shoulder, Haunted Cologne, Stephen Steinbrink (AKA French Quarter).

From outside of town, we've been the first people in PHX to give shows to Parts & Labor, Matt & Kim, Larry "Wildman" Fischer, Quintron, Jason Webley, No Age, Baby Dee, and a lot more. They might not have all been huge shows, but they meant a lot to us and the people involved.

Do you have a favorite anecdote regarding your venue?
It's too long to recount here, but the night Jason Webley tamed a whole room of old-school punks, and got them to sing along to his sea shanties. It really crystallized what we want Trunk Space to be.

Do you plan on expanding or modifying your venue in the future?
We don't own our space, so if we could find the perfect place, we'd consider moving, but we're really happy where we are. Also, we're constantly upgrading our sound system.

What advice could you give those who are interested in opening their own venue?
Do it because you love it.  If it's something about money or ego, you will probably not be happy and eventually become disliked.

What events do you have coming up?
On Valentine's Day, we're hosting the "Pretty Things Peep Show" from LA. March will be packed with lots of great SXSW touring bands. In April on Saturday the 25^th, we'll be hosting the "REAL" Coachella: an all day music and performance fest with tons of local and regional bands.

The Trunk Space: www.thetrunkspace.com

In addition to posing for such swell album photos, Quintron has spent the last number years performing with puppet shows put on by his wife and partner-in-crime Miss Pussycat (whose inimitable lyrical prowess is present on most of the tracks,) and invented a drum machine that runs on spit along with countless other weird musical innovations.

Appropriately, his album contains plenty of sleazy, drum-machine fueled soul numbers including stand-outs "Waterfall" and "Final Conflict." On tracks like "Reborn," atmospheric, Esquivel-like lounge bizarreness abounds.

For the casual listener, the sideshow house party quality of the album might be a bit hard to digest. Underneath the ostentatious absurdity, however, Quintron is a phenomenal organ player. Just check out his recent work with raunchy R&B legend Andre Williams on Can You Deal With It? (Bloodshot) or the garage floor gospel goodness he kicked up with Memphis garage geniuses The Oblivians on …Play 9 Songs With Quintron (Crypt) if you need some proof.

Quintron has always marched to the beat of his own drummer (or, drum machine as the case may be) but his eccentricities and preoccupations have always burbled to the surface most prominently on his solo records.

This record most likely won't turn up many new fans, but the curious might be best directed to Quintron's live album from 1998, These Hands of Mine (Skingraft) for an introductory glimpse into his psyche, or any one of his collaborative projects. But for the cult of old fans already warm and cuddly with the method behind Quintron's madness, this will scratch that most specific of itches.

-Pete Klockau

Quintron: www.quintronandmisspussycat.com
Goner Records: www.goner-records.com