Devil’s Playground 2: Art of the Vintage Horror Movie Poster CLOSING NIGHT @ Lethal Amounts [LA]

I believe that the first time that I ever heard of Lethal Amounts Gallery was May of last year.  We had posted a preview for Lost Merchandise Of The Dreamlanders, a John Waters tribute art show consisting of fake products and toy sets paying homage to the filmmakers work with Divine.  Although the event that we were promoting with the post was taking place at La Mama Galleria in New York City, the curator of the show; sculptor, Tyson Tabbert; informed me that the exhibit would soon be showing at Lethal Amounts, as well.   I must have signed on to receive emails from them at that point, because they started coming in, but I have never been entirely sure what Lethal Amounts did — or, rather, didn’t do — because the events that they put on and projects they promote have been so varied, ranging from art exhibits to live concerts to hybrids in-between.

On Halloween of last year, they hosted an exhibit for now-deceased founder of The Church Of Satan, Anton Lavey, which, along with his personal paintings, photos, and ephemera, included items on loan from friends and collectors like Glenn Danzig.  They also hosted a “black mass” around the event and featured lectures and performances by filmmaker and long time collaborator, Kenneth Anger.  Earlier in the year, they held a Psychic TV-related exhibit connected to a related book released by band member, Edley Odowd, which also involved lectures by group founder and living legend, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. On another occasion, we received an email from Lethal Amounts about a tribute to Johnny Ramone that took place at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which hyped a “special screening” of the film, Buffalo 66, with the filmmaker/artist/composer, Vincent Gallo in attendance, as well as Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, Rosanna Arquette, Billy Idol, Mickey Rourke, and Fred Armisen.  Aside from that, they’ve put on several concerts, even partnering with Sacred Bones Records on more than one occasion — in fact, we received a press release from the Sacred Bones publicist, at one point, to promote a Christian Death documentary that Lethal Amounts was helping to put out, at the time.  Reading back on it now, it seems that the documentary was a longtime dream of Lethal Amounts owner, Danny Fuentes, who helped earn money to fund its production through Pledge Music.  That press release also helped to clarify more about what Lethal Amounts does/is, referring to it as a “gallery and promoter,” while elaborating on it as follows:

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Lethal Amounts focuses on subversive and counter culture themes throughout history, addressing the social and artistic value of underground movements while highlighting taboo topics. Lethal Amountsshowcases the extremes of those individuals who have moved culture forward and live on the edge of and outside of societal norms. Rock ‘n Roll of the past that has crossed over into pop culture fanaticism, street culture influences and cult hero worship.

Lethal Amounts inhabits a physical gallery space in downtown Los Angeles that features three exhibition rooms and over 2,500 sq. ft. In addition to the gallery space Lethal Amounts hosts and produces events throughout Los Angeles, including the monthly Sex Cells party, as well as a clothing line that partners with like-minded musicians and artists to release original licensed shirt designs and more.

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So… that pretty much clears that up.  As far as I knew, it just appeared that Lethal Amounts has been involved with some pretty cool shit, and that was enough for me.  And, to be entirely honest, that’s still enough.  In keeping in step with this history of working with outside collaborators to pull off pretty cool shit, the last month has seen them working with Westgate Gallery, known for “specializing in classic, cult, exploitation, golden age xxx, giallo & horror posters” to host an exhibit titled, Devil’s Playground 2: Art Of The Vintage Horror Story.  Unfortunately, the show will be closing tomorrow night, Friday, November 16, but the good news is that they will be going out with a closing night celebration, so that those of you who will be in the area still have an opportunity to go peep this thing out and check the beauty of several dozen classic film posters up close in living (or, rather, undead, and, often, gory) color.  The following excerpt comes via the official event page.

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The weekend before Halloween we opened this exhibit with Westgate Gallery , as our second collaborative show following Devil’s Playground, which featured the art of the vintage exploitation and erotica film poster during the XXX Golden Age.

The thrilling sequel that is currently open for appointment based viewing celebrates the artistry of hand-drawn vintage posters with a focus on the Horror, Giallo and B-movie genres – featuring hundreds of beautifully painted and preserved posters, including rare variations and renditions from around the world! This exhibit will be free and open to the public once more, and will display many more posters that were not on the walls for opening night!

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Check out a selection of images from the exhibit, below, after the following event details.

WHAT:

Devil’s Playground 2: Art Of The Vintage Horror Movie Poster
Closing NIGHT

WHEN:

Friday, November 16, 2018
8-10pm

WHERE:

Lethal Amounts
1226 W 7th St
Los Angeles, CA

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Closing reception is free and all ages
Posters available for sale can be purchased prior to closing night at theLethal Amounts online store
All unsold posters will also be available for purchase at the Gallery during the closing reception.
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/485702821924292/