Opening this Saturday, August 14th is the latest solo show of David Choong Lee, entitled “Acquiring Signal”. This will be Lee’s second largest installation based show, and will completely encompass the gallery walls with 500+ pieces. This combination of paintings and sculptures are inspired by the “street people and the cities they inhabit”. This is going to be an very impressive show, one of the shots from the galleries blog give an idea of how massive this installation will be.

Check it out: Lebasse Projects

The Creep Machine is happy to announce a new guest writer, China Blue. Living in New York, China has the ability to check out some of the amazing exhibitions that open up there, and give the readers of this site a proper full-fledged review. Here we go:

Saturday, August 10th didn’t officially begin until nightfall when I arrived at the Last Rites Gallery’s opening for “New Breed II”, a group show including artists Patrick Deignan, Mark Elliot, Steve Ellis, John Cebollero, Angie Mason, Natalie Shau, Celeste Rapone, Jasmine Worth and Leslie Ditto. I had been absent from the New York art scene for two years while traveling, and I was more than excited to be coming back to one of my favorite galleries. Last Rites never skimps on ambiance – not from the dripping candles, the blood-red curtains or the all-black attire of the hosts. Stepping out of the elevator on the third floor, I always feel as though I have crossed the threshold into another, more sinister world. The title “NewBreed II” denotes that many of the artists had never before shown at Last Rites and all were encouraged to explore a darker side of themselves and produce work with a more morbid or grotesque spin.

This Saturday, August 7th is the next installment of the New Breed series. “New Breed II” will feature work by John Cebollero, Patrick Deignan, Leslie Ditto, Mark Elliot, Steve Ellis, Angie Mason, Celeste Rapone, Natalie Shau, and Jasmine Worth. Angie Mason has been around for quite a while now, so I’m sure how her work fits the theme. Regardless, the work looks amazing and I really like what Shau, Ditto, and Cebollero came up with. Check out the preview images and then head over for the full show.

New Breed II @ Last Rites Gallery

Opening this August 7th at Rivet Art is a new solo show entitled “Black Smoke White Lies” by pinup artist Tyson McAdoo. As stated by Gayla Partridge; “His ladies, teetering on impossibly high heels, seem as likely to screw you, as shoot you or cook you some bacon in nothing but an apron.” The show features some framed giclee prints that are limited to 1, and some sketches and studies in a variety of mediums. All of the work looks amazing, I like being able to see the drawings that goes into making some of his finished works. I hope adding these types of works to his shows becomes a habit.

Check out the preview images, and then the full show here: Tyson McAdoo @ Rivet Art

On July 10th, the Shooting Gallery in San Francisco opened a duo show with new works from Van Arno and Chris Pugliese. I was finally able to make my way into the city to see the work in person, and I’m very glad I did. The show opened July 10th and will close August 7th. I have been a fan of Van Arno since the first time I saw his work at the Shooting Gallery. He has an amazing, energetic way of painting the figure, and his color palette and stylized body types make his work very unique. I was also very surprised with Chris Pugliese’s paintings. I had seen his work online, but I think it is really important to see art in person as so much is lost when it is presented on the web. Click the jump link for the rest of the review, or just look at the photos from the show at the Creep Machine Flickr.

This Wednesday beginning at Noon EST, Arabella Proffer will be having an art sale. This sale is not only in order to clear up some space, but also to help her medical expenses as she recently found out she has Cancer. So make sure you head on over, she will have drawing of all mediums, sizes, and colors all for just $30. IT’s a great way to score some unframed art, and help someone out in the process.

Arabella Proffer’s Great $30 art sale and benefit

In the past week or so, a bunch of artists have been created original works and prints and auctioning them off to help out the family of Ryan August (I Want Your Skull). The Decoder Ring Design Concern has also jumped in and is having a huge auction of prints. All of the money goes to the Ryan’s family, so head on over and see what is being sold.

Decoder Ring Auction @ Gigposters.com

Opening tonight, July 24th at the Congregation Gallery in Hollywood, CA is a group show entitled “The Black Plague Art Show”. Curated by Cam Rackam, this show has a very impressive lineup with new works from: Jason Soles, Buddy Nestor, Cam Rackam, Chris Peters, Christopher Conte, Dan Harding, Ian Ward, Sean Chappell, Terry Wolfinger, Vincent Castiglia, Lacey Bryant, Karl Persson, Nikko Hurtado, Larkin, and many more. Of course we all know the Black Plague to be one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, but one of the elements you will see in many of these works is the outfits the plague doctors would wear. It consisted of a wide brimmed hat (a signifier of being a doctor), a long black overcoat (to minimize exposure), a cane for examining and ushering people around, and most notable the bird’s beak shaped mask. This mask worked similar to a gas mask, as impure air was thought to spread the disease. The mask had red eyepieces, thought to block the doctor from evil, and the beak would be filled with herbs or spices that would reduce the smell and again block impure air.

It’s an outstanding show, and had me surprised quite a few times. Dan Harding’s new piece “La Bella Morte Nera” (or The Beautiful Back Death), is so amazing, his work just keeps getting better. I also liked Jason Soles “Bell Jar Baby” and various masks. Lacey Bryant also has some great, illustrative pieces that really take the idea of the Black Plague as inspiration. “A Surprise for Mum” has the rats that helped spread the plague, and “Pocketful of Posies” is pretty creepy as well. Take a look at the preview images here, and then head over for the full show.

Black Plague Art Show @ Congregation Gallery

The art collective known as Faile recently went to Lisboa, Portugal for their Temple Project, which is a giant sculptural installation that has been 2 years in the making. This is an amazing project. The classical design fits in seamlessly with the surrounding city, and shows that contemporary artists can make some truly inspiring works. Dflektor.com and Stick2Target, the portuguese street art site, both have a huge amount of photos showing every angle of this temple.

Temple Project @ Dflektor
Temple Project @ Stick2Target

John Cebollero will have three new paintings in the upcoming New Breed 2 exhibition coming to the Last Rites Gallery this coming August 7th. The last show had some really amazing artwork, and I am looking forward to seeing what this year brings. John works in acrylics and inks, and as seen in one of the paintings he will have in the show below, the colors are intense. This painting is entitled “Only Women Bleed”, possibly inspired by the Alice Cooper song of the same name? The other two paintings he will have in the show will not feature his signature, stylized portraits, but will be some of the darker work that he has been creating lately.

Johncebollero.com