It’s that time again, and one of my favorite times of the year. It’s October and this means Halloween is just around the corner. This is the month you can spend your nights watching horror movies, which I do all year long anyway, as well as appreciate all of the horror and dark art that is created. This months feature has some outstanding art from some of the best artists out there: Sarah Joncas, Jay Doronio, Tom Bagshaw, Gary Pullin, Nikko Hurtado, Leilani Bustamante, Larkin, Jackie Gallagher, Dan Harding, Ryan Heshka, Jason Levesque, Ojimbo, R.S. Connett, Charlie Immer, Akira Beard, John Cebollero, Craig larotonda, Christopher Ulrich, and XNO. Click the image to go to the feature and have a great October!
“Necropolis” Dark Art Group Show @ Congregation Gallery
This past weekend was a good time for art fans as a handful of amazing shows opened up. One of which was “Necropolis”, a dark art group show that opened at the Congregation Gallery on Saturday. The show features work by Nikko Hurtado, Christopher Peters, Cam Rackam, Christopher Ulrich, Larkin, Dan Harding, Scott Holloway, Buddy Nestor, Jeremy Cross, Jason Soles, Aunia Kahn, Christopher Conte, Kolaboy, Chad Savage, the Creep, Jason Hernandez, Sean Chappell, Scarecrowoven, Liv Rainey-Smith, and many more. The show will be on view until roughly August 12th. I was very happy to see the work of Kolaboy, as I have been a fan of his since around the time this site started. Liv Rainey-Smith also made some amazing little block prints.
“The Black Plague Art Show” @ Congregation Gallery
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




“Flesh to Canvas 2″ @ Last Rites Gallery
This past Saturday at the Last Rites Gallery in New York, the Second “Flesh to Canvas” group show opened up. This years features work by Paul Acker, Alex Adams, Guy Aitchison, Nick Baxter, Aaron Bell, Paul Booth, Joe Capobianco, Joshua Carlton, Mike DeVries, Chris Dingwell, Little Dragon, Alex Garcia, Goethe, Gunnar, Anil Gupta, Ryan Hadley, Robert Hernandez, Phil Holt, Nikko Hurtado, Brian Murphy, Roman, Juan Salgado, Stefano, Toxyc, Kurt Wiscombe and Phil Young.
I was especially taken in with the paintings by Nick Baxter, Juan Salgado, and Nikko Hurtado’s amazing Medusa inspired piece.
Check out the show here: Last Rites Gallery





























