Creep Machine Magazine – Contemporary Art & Culture

Tag: brian despain

  • The 6th Annual 13th Hour Group show at Last Rites Gallery

    The 6th Annual 13th Hour Group show at Last Rites Gallery

    On October 11th, the Last Rites Gallery in New York opened the 7th installment of their 13th Hour Group Exhibition. Last Rites is one of those galleries that I find myself awed at every show they host, and the 13th Hour shows are often the most awe inspiring. It is these shows that you not only see a diverse range of art, but you are looking at the some of the best artists that dark surrealism has to offer. As I scoured through this years offering, I found myself wanting to share every image from this show, and even learned of a few artists that I have not had my eye on before.

    The 6th edition of this show features the work of Tom Bagshaw, William Basso, Nick Baxter, Dilka Bear, Paul Booth, Matt Buck, John Cebollero, Chrystal Chan, Crajes, Craww, Matt Dangler, Brian Despain, Thomas Dodd, Mark Elliot, Jacub Gagnon, Mark Garro, Jason Goldberg, Jessica Gordon, Naoto Hattori, Fay Helfer, Kelley Hensing, Robert Hernandez, Jeremy Hush, Jessica Joslin, JoKa, Sarah Joncas, Jean Labourdette aka Turf One, Eric Lacombe, Jed Leiknes, Matthew Levin, Brin Levinson, Eli Livingston, Ver Mar, Chris Mars, menton3, Vince Natale, Chris Peters, Dan Quintana, David Richardson, Paul Romano, David Stoupakis, Tin, Emma Tooth, Nicomi Nix Turner, Brian Viveros, Allen Williams, Daniel Williams, N.C. Winters, Hannah Yata, Vincent Xeus, and Kate Zambrano.

    After the preview, check out the full show here: 13th Hour at Last Rites Gallery

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  • Preview: Dark Pop 4 Group Show @ Last Rites Gallery

    Opening this Saturday, March 3rd, is the 4th annual Dark Pop group exhibition at Last Rites Gallery. This year the show is curated by Gary Pressman and has a very impressive list of artists; Alexandra Pacula, Ana Bagayan, Annie Owens, Becca, Brian Despain, Cathie Bleck, Charles Wish, Chrystal Chan, Dark Vomit, Dave MacDowell, Eric Alos, Eric Richardson, Francesco De Molfetta, Isabel Samaras, Jennybird Alcantara, Joe Vaux, John Brophy, Mark Elliott, Mark Garro, Mascorro, Matt Dangler, Matthew Grabelsky, Niagara, TIN, Travis Lampe, Travis Louie, and Yoko d’Holbachie. This year has some amazing pieces in it, such as Black End by Joe Vaux, Enlightenment by Chrystal Chan (one of three she has in the show), and Witching Hour by John Brophy. If your in the area make sure to stop by for the reception from 7-11 PM. Otherwise take a look at the preview images and then head over to the site for more.

    Dark Pop 4 @ Last Rites Gallery





  • ArtFusion collaborative group show @ Last Rites Gallery

    On February 11th, Last Rites Gallery in New York held the first part of the ArtFusion Charity event with a live painting day, and on Feb 25th will hold the gala and charity auction. ArtFusion bring together a over 15 talented, diverse, and well known artists to create collaborative works of art which will benefit The International Children’s Art Foundation (ICAF). Work by Ana Bagayan, Angie Mason, Annie Owens, Anthony Pontius, Billy Norrby, Brian Despain, Brian Murphy, Buddy Nestor, Chris Mars, David MacDowell, David Stoupakis, Dan Harding, Ewelina, Fred Harper, Genevive Zacconi, Jason D’Aquino, Jason Levesque, Jason Limon, Jennybird Alcantara, Mia Araujo, Michael Mararian, Paul Booth, Scott G Brooks, Vincent Castiglia, and many more can be seen during this event. The gallery sent out 15 canvas panels to be sketched on, which were then in turn painted by a group of selected artists to be collaboratively painted on.
    If you head to the galleries homepage you will see the finished painting, as well as the drawing that was originally made. I love collaborative works, and this show has some outstanding examples of how great they can be. For example Dave MacDowell’s “Paul Booth” drawing painted by Scott G Brooks and Mark Elliot, as well as Chris Mars’ drawing painted by Paul Booth & David Stoupakis.

    Check out the rest of the works: Last Rites x ArtFusion



  • Review: The Blab! Show @ Roq La Rue Gallery

    On August 12th Roq La Rue in Seattle, WA opened the latest Blab! Show group invitational, with a specific theme of the Krampus as inspiration. For those not familiar with the Krampus, he is a pre-christian demon like creature that accompanied St Nick during Christmas and punished the bad children. The exhibition features work by Ryan Heshka, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Erik Mark Sandberg, Yoko d’Holbachie, Travis Louie, Travis Lampe, Martin Wittfooth, Ana Bagayan, Owen Smith, Chris Buzelli, Shag, Brian Despain, Mark Garro, Marc Burkhardt, Laurie Hogin, Andy Kehoe, Derek Nobbs, Alex Kuno, Andrew S. Arconi, Julianna Swaney, Jason Holley, and Fred Stonehouse. The folks over at Loved To Death, made their way from San Francisco to Seattle to check out the show. Brennan was nice enough to write a review for the Creep and share some photos as well. Take it away Brennan, after the jump.


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  • Dark Pop 3.0 @ Last Rites Gallery

    Last Saturday, January 15th, the Last Rites Gallery in New York opened the 3rd installment of the Dark Pop exhibitions. The artists in these shows focus their work towards the darker side of art, so fans are able to see artists that rarely make dark art create something truly unique. This year the participating artists include Buff Monster, Esao Andrews, Scott Musgrove, Mark Dean Veca, Daniel Hyun Lim, Glenn Barr, the Pizz, Brian Despain, Mr Christopher, Beau Stanton, Molly Crabapple, Michael Page, Mark Elliot, Mark Garro, Gaia, Nouar, Amy Crehore and more. One of the most surprising things about this show is new art from Mr Christopher (featured), who long time readers may remember as a monthly featured artist here on the Creep as well as submitting an amazing painting to the Attack of the B Movie show I curated years ago. I am very happy to see that Mr. Christopher is creating art again. Nouar once again creates a fun, creepy painting. Who else could show a woman biting the head off a chicken, and make it look amazing.

    Check out the full show here: Dark Pop 3 @ Last Rites Gallery


  • “Lush Life 2” @ Roq La Rue Gallery

    Last week, the “Lush Life 2” group invitational opened at Roq La Rue in Seattle. The shows features new works by Joe Sorren, Chris Berens, Marion Peck, Kris Kuksi, Travis Louie, Brian Despain, John Brophy, Martin Wittfooth, Ryan Heshka, Michael Brown, Charlie Immer, Mandy Greer, Gail Potocki, Laurie Hogin, Boomer, Madeline Von Foerster, Ryan Heshka and more. How is that for a line-up? With so much amazing work in one gallery it makes me wish Seattle was just a little closer. The show isn’t fully online yet for those of us that weren’t able to make the reception, but there is a web preview you can check out. So far from the preview, all of the works are very strong, but I am particularly taken with Travis Louie’s “The Ghost Of Laura From The Reeds”. His paintings are insane in person, the level of detail is very impressive to say the least. I also like that he adds stories to each of his characters. I often did this with my mothers Cabinet photo and tintype collection, but my stories were not as entertaining as the ones Travis comes up with.

    I really liked that a good majority of the artists in this show, are either inspired by classical themes, or paint in the style of classical masters. This is seen with the work of Madeline Von Foerster, Andrew Arconti and the “Lady Clown” from Marion Peck. That painting is so perfect, the color palette, the inspiration from Francisco Goya’s “La maja desnuda“, and the expression that clown face has. I really hope this is turned into a print soon.

    Check out the preview here: Lush Life 2 @ Roq La Rue



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  • Brian Despain and John Brophy @ Roq La Rue

    Over the weekend Roq La Rue opened “Requiarium” with new art from Brian Despain and “Saints and Angels” by John Brophy. This is one of those shows that makes me wish I either lived closer to the gallery, or was able to take a quick trip there. Both artists are exceptionally talented, Brian Despain’s robots are uniquely his own and John Brophy’s portraits and the Flemish style method to his paintings had me hooked from the start.
    Ever since I first saw the “Madonna and Horsefly” print at the gallery I have been a big fan of John’s work. His art is a perfect blend of classical and surreal, these new paintings are just another example of why he is an artist to keep a close eye on. It’s hard to pick which one out of the amazing lineup of paintings is my favorite, but “Nessarose” (which happens to be the name of the woman who becomes the wicked witch of the east in Wicked) is the painting that mesmerizes me to the most.

    Roq La Rue keep son churning out some of the best shows you can imagine, make sure you stop by the site to see this months offerings. Brian Despain & John Brophy @ Roq La Rue

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  • Preview: Travis Louie’s “Monster” @ Copro Gallery

    This July 11th at the Copro Gallery will be “Monster”, a group show curated by Travis Louie and features the work of over 50 artists. I’m a big fan of the work of Mr Louie, and was raised on monster artwork, so this show is right up my alley. Some of the artists that will be at this show are Ron English, Femke Hiemstra, Jessica Joslin, Audrey Kawasaki, Tessar Lo, Martin Wittfooth, Chet Zar, Amanda Visell, Ana Bagayan, Annie Owens, Attaboy, Brandt Peters, Brian Despain, Brom, Chris Ryniak, Dan Quintana, Ekundayo, Dave Chung, Dave DeVries, Davey Wong, Deseo, Dice Tsutsumi, Francesco LoCastro, Fred Harper, Heidi Taillefer, Isabel Samaras, James Zar, Jason D’Aquino, Amy Botello, Kris Kuksi, Kris Lewis, Lola, Mari Inukai, Mark Texiera, Miles Teves, Molly Crabapple, Nouar, Xiaoqing Ding and many more. If you head on over to Erratic Phenomena you can see an interview done with Travis about the show and his stance on the art scene and where it is going. I like how Travis brought up that some of the art we see is short on conception and lacks creativity. My favorite bit is:

    A gallery owner (I won’t say who) tried to tell me how great someone’s brushwork was, and he really had no clue about what constitutes “good brushwork.” Folks, there is a significant difference between having a strong style that exaggerates anatomy, and exaggeration because of a lack of anatomical knowledge. I’m not saying I’d like to see all things painted realistically or naturalistically, but I would prefer that the artists know how to draw something, at least. I’ve seen so many artists whose drawing was so bad I can’t believe they got shows.

    Not only am I crazy about Art History, but I am also quite big on anatomy and classical ways of painting/drawing. I hope to see more of these disciplines as well. Anway, make sure you head on over to Erratic Phenomena to read the interview and check out the gallery for the full preview of works.

    Monster @ Copro Gallery

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