by James Braithwaite (instagram: thebathwater)
In the fall of 2019, the day after the Montreal launch for Jay Stephens Dejects, Black Eye publisher Michel Vrana attended the opening of James Braithwaite’s Dangerously Prancy gallery exhibit at Monastiraki, and was immediately taken by James’ whimsical, preposterous, and delightful drawings. In no time, Michel and James were discussing a book project!
A Boring Emergency will be the culmination of a full year’s worth of the daily scrawlings by James Braithwaite. Begun as a creative palate cleanser to his animation day job, James notes:
“Once I saw five together, I wanted to see what 30 looked like. 30 turned into 90… Eventually this slow dribble of daily nonsense had formed a strange, horrifying stalactite.”
A few of the pieces from A Boring Emergency shown at James’ show Dangerously Prancy at Monastiraki, Montreal.
The drawings in A Boring Emergency are big, bold ink drawings, peppered with unhelpful text. They are part art piece, part comic, and part ridiculous poetry. There is no intentional narrative connection between these beasts, but in a weird way they do begin to form some horrible kind of sense. Please enjoy responsibly.
James Braithwaite is an artist and animator living in Toronto. His drawings are part of the 2007 animated film I Met the Walrus, based on an interview of John Lennon by then 14-year old Jerry Levitan in 1969. The film was nominated for an Oscar, won an Emmy, and was the American Film Institute’s Best Animated short.
TBA 2021, black and white, 5.75" x 5.75", 376 pages (approx.)