David Lester (artist, author, publisher)

David Lester is the guitar player in the Vancouver, Canada based band Mecca Normal, as well as a painter, graphic designer and publisher at Get to the Point Press. Mecca Normal's lyrics are written and performed by Jean Smith, who explores themes of social injustice, feminism and anti-authoritarianism.^[1]

David Lester of Mecca Normal

Lester met Mecca Normal bandmate Smith in 1981 while the two were working together at a Vancouver newspaper.^[2] As a result of their collaboration, Mecca Normal is considered a forerunner and an inspiration to the 1990s politically-charged riot grrrl and D-I-Y movements.^[3]

In August 1993, Lester started Get to the Point Press to publish Smith's first novel I Can Hear Me Fine. He subsequently published chapbooks of graphic design and poetry by community activists including Keys to Kingdoms by Bud Osborn which, in 1999, won the City of Vancouver Book Award.^[4] In 2002, Get to the Point published Smith's chapbook The Family Swan and Other Songs followed by Smith's Two Stories in 2006.^[5]

In 2005, Arbeiter Ring published Lester's book The Gruesome Acts of Capitalism -- a compendium of creatively juxtaposed statistics that illuminate issues of poverty. Royalties from the book go to The Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture. The book went to a second, revised printing in 2007.^[6] In 2010 the book was required reading in the Studies in Contemporary Literature course at Capilano University (British Columbia).^[7]

Since 2002, Lester and Smith have been co-presenting an art exhibit, lecture and performance event called How Art & Music Can Change the World^[8] in rock venues, youth centres, art galleries and classrooms, including Willamette University, California Institute of the Arts, NEXUS/foundation for today's art, Mount Holyoke College, the Rhode Island School of Design, and Evergreen State College.^[9]

Mecca Normal's albums have been released on K Records, Matador Records, Kill Rock Stars and the band's own Smarten Up! Records -- created in 1986 to release their first LP.^[10]

In 2007, Mecca Normal was named one of 10 famous Canadians you’ve never heard of by Canada's national newspaper, The Globe & Mail.^[11]

Lester has also collaborated with experimental bassist Wendy Atkinson to form the duo Horde of Two. They released their debut CD Guitar & Bass Actions on Smarten Up! & Get To The Point Records in 2009.^[12]

Since mid 2009, David Lester has been illustrating a weekly feature for Magnet Magazine online, with text by Jean Smith. Ostensibly the feature visually documents people, places and events from Mecca Normal’s 26-year history, but it often veers into wider territory. ^[13]

In 2010, David Lester’s poster series Inspired Agitators became part of the permanent collection of the Center For The Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles.^[14]

In 2010, Mecca Normal recorded a single for K Records. In May 2010, Mecca Normal organized a group art exhibit called The Black Dot Museum: Political Artists from Vancouver, which took place in Olympia, WA at the Northern Gallery.^[15]

Lester's second book, a 300 page graphic novel called The Listener, was published by Arbeiter Ring in the spring of 2011.^[16]

References

1. ^ :: Mecca Normal Online ::...
2. ^ http://thehighhat.com/Pop&Clicks/002/mecca_normal.html :: The High Hat
3. ^ http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?articleID=666 :: Experience Music Project
4. ^ http://mypage.direct.ca/c/carnnews/cn011199.html :: Downtown Eastside Poetry Wins City Book Award
5. ^ http://www.abcbookworld.com/view_author.php?id=4538 :: ABC BookWorld
6. ^ http://arbeiterring.com/books/detail/the-gruesome-acts-of-capitalism/ :: Abeiter Ring Publishing
7. ^ http://www.capilanou.ca/Assets/english/Course+Info/201010.pdf :: Capilano University, Course Offerings, 2010
8. ^ http://howartandmusiccanchangetheworld.blogspot.com/ :: How Art & Music Can Change The World
9. ^ http://www.evergreen.edu/media/streamingmedia/stream.php?stream=Mecca_Normal_SC-H.264%2032Kbps%20Streaming.mov&title=Mecca%20Normal%20Musical%20Lecture%20in%20Sem%20II%20E4115%204/8/09&trt=Length:%2052%20min :: Evergreen State College
10. ^ :: Mecca Normal Online ::...history
11. ^ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/article767812.ece :: Globe & Mail
12. ^ http://www.wonkavisionmagazine.com/reviews09/?p=1356 :: WonkaVision Magazine
13. ^ http://www.magnetmagazine.com/category/david-lester-art/ :: Magnet Magazine
14. ^ http://www.politicalgraphics.org/home.html :: Center for the Study of Political Graphics
15. ^ http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/entertainment/visual-edge/2010/05/olympia-art-Black-Dot-Museum-Political-Artists-from-Vancouver/ :: Weekly Volcano
16. ^ http://thelistenergraphicnovel.wordpress.com :: The Listener

External links

• Mecca Normal Home Page
• Visual Resistance David Lester Profile Page (archived)
• Weekly Volcano

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