Having the No. 1 song at rock radio would make anybody else’s year, but it isn’t quite enough living for Billy Morrison. With the habit-forming Crack Cocaine, his wildly successful pairing with the legendary Ozzy Osbourne, still coursing through the listening world’s bloodstream, Morrison is about to show off another side of his talent via an exhibit of his visual art at Toronto’s Liss Gallery.
Proving himself a true rockin’ renaissance man, the U.K.-born Morrison will dazzle the eyes of art buffs with his striking, sharply outlined imagery. Taking inspiration from influences that range from pop culture to the insect world to the printed media, Morrison deals in colors and contrasts that are as bold as his way with a guitar, following in the footsteps of his heroes Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring.
The show is being guest-curated by Canadian painter John Ball, who’s teamed with Morrison to produce two joint works that will be available in a highly limited edition of nine each. The artists will co-sign the original and limited-edition pieces, which will represent an engaging fusion of Morrison’s style-forward aesthetic and Ball’s complementary commingling of abstraction and urban realism.
The show runs from Aug. 3 to 31, with an opening party set for Thursday, Aug. 8. That event gets underway with a VIP reception at 5 p.m., after which the doors of the gallery will be thrown open to the general public from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Morrison will play an acoustic set for the occasion, bringing two of his artistic worlds into the tightest of orbits. The Liss Gallery is located at 112 Cumberland St. in Toronto.
His collaboration with Ball is just the latest evidence that Morrison plays well with others. In the past, he’s shared canvases with the likes of Lincoln Townley, Risk and Joey Feldman. And in the recording studio, he’s just about everybody’s favorite co-conspirator. One need look no farther than Crack Cocaine, the mutant blues workout that’s his second and most warmly welcomed team up with Ozzy. (It’s about love, not drugs, BTW.) Culled from Morrison’s third solo album The Morrison Project, the song also features six-string god Steve Stevens, with whom Morrison has enjoyed a tight bond since they started playing together in Billy Idol’s band 14 years ago.
Cultivating enduring artistic relationships is almost second nature to Morrison. His year playing bass for The Cult on tour spawned the long-lived side projects Circus Diablo with guitarist Billy Duffy and Camp Freddy with drummer Matt Sorum (the latter of which eventually morphed into the supergroup Royal Machines). And in addition to his ample achievements in art and music, Morrison is a prolific actor who’s been seen in The Perfect Age of Rock ’n Roll and Reboot Camp.
