The Muse Gallery Highlights Day of the Dead Artwork

Monday, 16 November 2009 21:22

The Muse gallery, operated by the non-profit, Art Fare, hosted several local amateur artists with mediums ranging from photography to digital artworks and paintings, both on and off the canvas.

Many of the photographs that hang on the walls of the gallery depicted last year’s procession and include images of ghoulish painted faces, larger-than-life puppets and fire performers from the grand finale.

Suzie Valente, gallery manager and in-house artist of the Muse, said that she wanted to help owner Tig Collins create something special for the community.

“There are a lot of small art galleries downtown and we wanted to distinguish ourselves by having as many local artists participate in the Dia de los Muertos theme as we could,” she said.

Two artists, Andrew Gaskins and David Cotter created digital artwork designs incorporating fractal images and hand-drawn, graphic components for the show.

Gaskins, who had several prints in the main gallery, focused on themes of life and death.

He explained that the concept of his installation was to show the very beginning of life, from the cellular stage and move through all of the different levels, until he ends with the bare bones that are left after death.

“I used a special program that allowed me to create all of these different fractals which I then incorporated into the images that I drew from scratch on my computer,” he said.

Gaskins said he has always been fascinated with fractals and thought that the very the nature of them would mirror the themes in his artwork.

“There are cycles and patterns in everything,” he said. “I thought this was quite appropriate for the many beliefs that revolve around this tradition, especially of celebrating life and not fearing death."

Gaskins also had several prints set up in a room down the hallway from the main gallery, which can be rented by different artists on a regular basis.

For the opening night of the show, the room was set up with color-changing lights.

“The light effects are projected onto the different prints so that they pulsate which makes some of the psychedelic pieces crawl,” Cotter said.

Cotter also focused on psychedelic artwork with haunting, morose themes.

“There is something very deviant and macabre about human nature and I like to capture that in my work,” he said.

One of his prints resembled a human eyeball that had been stretched and distorted. It had long, detailed, and dark, multi-colored veins that spread from the mass of the sphere into the background.

“I like to make people take a second glance and question what it is they are seeing,” Cotter said.

Henrey Hermitet, another local artist submitted paintings and showcased the event by painting Day of the Dead themes on nude female models.

“I enjoy how a painting on the skin can look so real, as if it were a costume,” he said.

He painted a woman named Jessica in the form of a skeleton and decorated parts of her chest and arms in red roses.

Hermitet also added a rose headdress and completed a detailed makeup job on her face, making her nose and eyebrows seem more prominent.

The other model, Shondra, was also painted similar to a skeleton but had a checkered joker outfit painted on her upper body.

“This collar makes it really difficult to do any relaxed poses,” Shondra joked.

Hermitet said that he has found many of his models through newspaper advertisements and through local strip clubs.

Valente said that this makes sense because finding nude models is a difficult task.

“You need women who are sort of used to being naked and are comfortable enough with their bodies to do something like this,” she said.

Hermitet said that this was especially true with his art medium.

“I am painting directly onto their bare skin, so it is different than just posing for someone who is drawing or painting you,” he said

Valente said that she has hired people as models before but that she prefers to paint freely from her own mind.

This is evident in the large mural that she painted on one of the walls in the gallery.

The mural showed St. Mary holding baby Jesus with large rays coming out from the figures, both adorned with halos and green vines.

“I wanted to do something that would tie in the Catholic themes of the celebration, but still make it my own” she said.

Valente said that she wanted to attract the attention of people walking by to go to the procession.

“Many people knew of the Muse gallery when it was on Fourth Avenue but ArtFare moved it when the building had to be torn down,” she said.

Valente said that Tig Collins, the executive director of the non-profit organization wants to name the new site “45 Walls,” so that people will remember that it is located on 45 North Sixth Avenue.

“I think it should stay the say same so that it still represents all of the good things that the last gallery did,” she said.

Written by Emily Jones You are reading The Muse Gallery Highlights Day of the Dead Artwork articles