An Evening with J R Compton 7 pm Sunday, March 28 featured the DallasArtsRevue.com publisher, photographer and writer in an informal evening of show and tell life stories, readings and fielding questions.

The free event was held upstairs at Paperbacks Plus at 6115 LaVista. More info below.

J R showd some of his most recent photography, video from the mid-80s and samples publications he's edited and/or published, including Dallas NOTES, Hooka, armadilla (see below), Texas Jazz, and The Dallas Arts Kazoo on KNON-FM — and he talked a little about all those and others.

Compton was also: a founding board member of DARE (now The MAC), worked with ACT (The Artists Coalition of Texas, which became D-Art, DVAC and then DCCA), on the board of the community photographic group Allen Street Gallery, and EGAD (The Electronic Graphic Artists of Dallas, a Macintosh users group), an art critic for Chicago's Art Papers, The New Art Examiner, Dallas editor for Houston’s ArtScene magazine and a production assistant for both The Austin Sun and The Rag (Texas' first underground newspaper).

He briefly discussed DallasArtsRevue, which he published on paper 1979-1996 and online since 2000, and the ongoing JR's New White Rock Lake Journal, which is featured in a one-man show at the Bath House, opening April 10 through May 1, 2004.

J R read selections from his poetry and talked about some of the jobs and other experiences he’s collected over the years — including Night Watchman at a Massage Parlor, Secret Film Courier in Viet Nam, milkman’s assistant, cab driver and staff photographer for the Dallas Times Herald.

 

from the Transition Essays + Images

 

He was also going to talk about web sites, including some he produces now — this one, of course, LotusEaters.net, AnnHuey.com, the Joel Cooner Gallery — and others from the past — Fontaholics Anonymous, TWiG, EGAD, the Dance Council and the Texas Sculpture Association — but the time ran out long before that happened.

He also answered a lot of questions from the audience of about 25 people, including many friends and others he's never met.

JR's full resume is online at www.DallasArtsRevue.com/O/T/vitae/resume.html

armadilla = Everything you'd ever want to know about armadillos -- there's a game, a song, a dance, historical and biological information and several recipes, published in 1974.

Self-Portrait above by Self.