PREVIEW: The 13th Hour @ Last Rites Gallery [NYC]

in their 6th annual group exhibit, New York’s premiere gallery for the Dark Arts movement showcases a wide variety of impressive talent from various disciplines

13thHour2013_Front_WEB

October always seems to be a month packed full of amazing events and this year is definitely no exception.  So far, it has already proven to be chock-full of can’t miss live performances, but, as anyone that’s paying attention can tell you, it’s also a great month for art exhibits.  Being the time of year that it is, you’re sure to find plenty of venues and galleries hosting events that give very overt nods to the darker side of things–last week I was able to catch 70s Italian prog/horror movie soundtrack legends, Goblin on their first ever US tour–but when you’re hoping to get into the Halloween spirit by looking for artwork that leans toward the macabre, The Last Rites Gallery can’t be ignored.  As a “premiere gallery for the Dark Art movement,” it’s kind of their thing, and you know that if these cats can pull together a really solid, consistent, gory, and versatile zombie-themed exhibit in May, then their Halloween group show is definitely something to keep your festering, bloodshot eyes on.

Opening this Saturday, October 26th and running until December 7th, The 13th Hour  is one of the biggest exhibits that the gallery hosts each year.  As a “celebration of the Halloween spirit,” the theme for the show is fairly broad, and the interpretations will be vast.  That being said, my limited reading has lead me to understand the term for the mythical “thirteenth hour” as a reference to the one-minute time-frame that exists between 12:59 and 1am each night.  During that 60-second span, demons and beings that exist outside of our own physical universe are said to be given the opportunity run free, partaking in hijinks, tom foolery, chicanery, practical jokes… what have you.  Meanwhile,  time is said to be frozen, during that window, with each second in the 3-dimensional world operating as normal, while they function 60 times slower for these netherworld entities; hence creating a full hour for them to run amok, while we continue to experience that minute at its normal rate, powerless to do anything about it.

Now in it’s 6th year, the annual group exhibit will bring together over 40 different artists from various disciplines.  On their “about” page, Last Rites describes themselves as “a haven for artists who prefer to explore the ominous, uncomfortable, and eccentric in their work,” and while that is clearly and strongly represented in the contributions that we’ve already witnessed for the The 13th Hour, so is the broad spectrum of talent that is involved.  What I’ve truly come to respect about the Last Rites Gallery is how they never seem content with restricting themselves to the usual suspects; instead, opting to reach out to more unorthodox sources, like horror movie makeup artists, for inclusion in their shows.  Such decisions in their curatorial process add dimension to their group exhibits, while managing to avoid becoming overly redundant and played-out in territories and genres where it could be far too easy to do so.  This time around, the more typical painters and sculptors will be joined by folks who are more known for their works is such disparate fields as tattooing and osteology.

Here is a list of contributing artists:

13thHour2013_Back_WEB

 

Make sure to check out a selection of preview images below the following event details…

via press release

Last Rites Gallery opens it’s sixth annual The 13th Hour group exhibit, celebrating the spirit of the Halloween Season.

In its annual exhibit, Last Rites sets out to present a broad-spectrum representation of Dark Surrealism. Held days just before Halloween, the show is the gallery’s largest group exhibit, and features renowned artists from around the globe- working in an array of mediums including painting, drawing and sculpture. From gothic elegance to finely crafted grotesquery, the beauty within the darkness is embraced and brought into the spotlight.

 

WHAT:

The 13th Hour: group art exhibit

WHEN:

Opening:
Saturday, October 26th

7pm – 11pm

On View:
October 26th – December 7th

WHERE:

Last Rites Gallery
511 W 33rd St
New York, NY 10001
212.560.0666

 

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Opening is ALL AGES w/NO COVER
Many contributing artists will be present
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/374778715989263/


[click images to enlarge]

David Choquette

Choquette_Cyclops

“CYCLOPS”

oil on wood panel
20 x 20 inches

 

 

Redd Walitzki

Walitzki_13th Hour Queen Bee-shadows

“QUEEN BEE”

oil and mixed media on lasercut panel
18 X 22 inches

 

John Cebollero

cebollero_vice

“VICE”

Acrylic on panel
24 x 12 inches

Tom Bagshaw

Tom Bagshaw

“FECUND”

digital painting, printed on cotton rag stock, mounted on board
varnished and framed
16 x 20 inches (unframed)

 

David Richards

Richardson_babyheads_1

“BIRTH”

cast stainless steel on black marble
5 inches high x 7 inches on diameter marble base

“LIFE”

cast stainless steel on hand fabricated stainless steel base
10 inches high x 6 inches x 6 inches

“ASCENSION”

cast stainless steel on hand fabricated stainless steel base
13inches high x 10 inches x 10 inches

Dave MacDowell

dave macdowell motherland

“Motherland”

acrylic on canvas
18 x 24 inches

Agostino Arrivabene

Arrivbene_Macabro_corteo_copia_HiRes

“CORTEO MACABRO”

il on canvas
22 x 29 inches (unframed)

 

Eli Livingston

z_Livingston_Web

“TRANSITION”

cased resin with wood base and bronze finish
13.25 inches high, 4.5 inches wide base
edition 1/5


Matt Rota

Rota_pit

“PIT”

ink on paper
22 x 30 inches

Chris Mars

Mars_Hanford3

“HANFORD #3”

oil on panel
13.5 x 11 inches

Vince Natale

Natale_autofornicator_framed_front

“Autofornicator”

oil on wood
14.5 x 9 inches (unframed) / 26 x 20 x 4.5 inches (framed)

Richard J Oliver

Z_Oliver_Framed_web

“SIRENS”

oil on mixed media canvas
30 x 24 inches

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