Devendra Banhart Takes to the Stage, Wall at MoMa

Devendra Banhart is sometimes more like a living painting than a psych-folk singer, so it was no surprise when he recently performed in San Francisco at the Museum of Modern Art (SF MoMA). More surprising but still far from shocking, 13 pieces of artwork, created by Banhart, are featured alongside just as many Paul Klee originals in an exhibit entitled 'Abstract Rhythms.' During his performance last week, Banhart was clearly more interested in performing songs than commenting on art although, again, with him it all kinda feels like the same thing. And that's exactly the point of the exhibit.

Not wanting to get too philosophical in his actual performance, Banhart asked the audience to allow him to play off the fact that Klee's name is pronounced "Clay," as he joked that Andrew Dice was his relative.

"It's a trip to be playing here," Banhart said. And indeed it was a trip to see him there too, both on stage and on the wall. In other perfect matches, perhaps we should expect a Rob Zombie performance from a morgue and Serj Tankian at his very own Cirque du Soleil. Meanwhile, 'Abstract Rhythms' runs until April 15.