Month: October 2010

Necessary Discomforts Press Release

Rozz Williams and those he inspired:

Ryan Wildstar (EXP, The Whorse’s Mouth), Jill Emery (The Asexuals, Hole, Mazzy Star) Lorin Morgan-Richards, Michele Witchipoo, Jeremy Cross, David Richardson, Nicolas Caesar, Frankie Babylon, Gina N. Turcios (Rabbit), Mike Textbeak

BURBANK, CA

Nationally renowned artists of the macabre will memorialize Rozz Williams, a pioneer of Deathrock and dark art, with a new exhibit entitled Necessary Discomforts, displaying a private collection of his artwork and artistic tributes from those he inspired.

Rozz Williams was the creative force behind bands Christian Death, Shadow Project, Premature Ejaculation, among others. He was a passionate poet and artist that provided meaningful contemplation while pushing the boundaries of what was considered obscene. Artistically he always evolved, but the mainstream had a hard time keeping up. He took his own life in 1998, a tragic end to an artist that was far ahead of his time. The exhibit Necessary Discomforts encompasses artwork by Rozz Williams and those he inspired only at Hyaena Gallery on November 12th thru 14th.

Ryan (Gaumer) Wildstar, friend and artistic collaborator on Whorse’s Mouth with Rozz Williams in 1998, will present an inspired tribute along with over ten notable artists from around the country in the exhibit Necessary Discomforts. These darkly rich tributes will be in the mediums of sculpture, paintings, and illustration.

On November 13th from 8pm to 11pm, Hyaena Gallery will host an artist reception in conjunction with Necessary Discomforts memorializing Rozz Williams life. At this, Ryan Wildstar will perform poetry written by Rozz Williams out of his new book entitled ‘And What About the Bells?’ a deeply personal look inside the life of Rozz Williams, with stories, poems, and interviews with his closest friends. Copies of this book will be available onsite. DJ Dave Bats of Release the Bats will be spinning all night everything Rozz related.

Rozz Williams was born Roger Alan Painter in Glendora, California on November 6, 1963. He took his name from a gravestone in a Pomona cemetery. His first breakthrough came in 1979 with the band Christian Death, a play on the brand Christian Dior. In 1981, he collaborated with performance artist Ron Athey to produce the beginnings of industrial noise in a project called Premature Ejaculation. Always an innovator, Rozz Williams changed the depth of music and art while inspiring subsequent generations of artists. See his artwork along with those he inspired in a special exhibit Necessary Discomforts at Hyaena Gallery on November 12th thru 14th.

Flyer For Neccessary Discomforts Art Show (An Artistic Tribute To Rozz Williams)

http://www.lorinrichards.com/
http://www.hyaenagallery.com/
www.scary-art.com
http://www.scary-art.com/scary-artcomics.htm
http://daverichardsonart.com/
http://www.hyaenagallery.com/davidrichardson.html
http://creativemetalworks.deviantart.com/

*Update October 29th, 2010* STOP PRESS: Artists also participating with artwork are Doriandra (EXP), Ace Farren Ford (EXP), and Paris Sadonis (Shadow Project, EXP, The Whorse’s Mouth). Nico B will have his new film 1334 available (a second part to his film PIG, which focuses on Rozz’s last days), Steve Darrow (Asexuals, Super Heroines) will be displaying a crucifix made by Rozz (he held on the back cover of Only Theatre of Pain album) and some other rare early items.

Advertisement

Necessary Discomforts Art Show (An Artisitc Tribute To Rozz Williams)

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, then check out this event November 12th through the 14th:

Flyer For Necessary Discomforts Art Show (An Artistic Tribute To Rozz Williams)

http://www.lorinrichards.com/aravenabovepress.html
http://www.hyaenagallery.com/

Online Website Mention Of IF-X # 9

This online comic book/sci-fi website puts the spotlight on the latest issue of IF-X. The 2010 Halloween issue features “Costumes”, a children story written by Patrick McEvoy and drawn by Michele Witchipoo. Click on the link below to check it out:

http://scifipulse.net/?p=35118

CAG Is A Joke

It roughly over a few weeks since the New York Comic Con 2010 came and went. It was an interesting experience for me.

However, before I blog about my experiences being at the NYCC, I have to address this first.

In earlier blog posts, I spoke about how I was nominated by the ComicBook Artist Guild, otherwise known as CAG. I had three nominations for Best Artist, Best Cartoonist and Best Webcomic. Out of those three nominations, it seems as if I was ahead in the polls for Best Artist.

As for voting there was some confusion as to whether or not the voting was private or open to the public. Since I saw that a few other nominees were posting URLS and inviting non CAG members to vote on some social networking sites. Since nothing was mentioned, I decided to do likewise. It was not until AFTER the URLS were posted onto various websites that CAG sent an email about allowing public voting.Anyway, I continued to promote the nominations I was in the running for. I even received private congratulations from friends and associates who saw the nominations posted.

So…Sunday October 10th 2010 arrives. I go down to one of the panel rooms for the CAG “awards.” So as the nominations were read, almost everyone who had gotten top vote in their perspective categories…except for me.

You see, even though I had 32.18% of the votes in the category for Best Artist, I didn’t win. Now out of the nine nominees listed in the poll, I had twenty-eight vote. for me. Others had 21.84%, 12.64%…so since I had 32.18%, it looked as if I was ahead. Also, in the CAG/Haller awards ceremony, in many of the nominations, there was as many as nine nominees. However, in the Powerpoint presentation shown during the awards show, only four were shown. Again, no mass email among CAG members were sent out stating that the nominations would be whittled down to four per category during the awards. So I suppose that I was “lucky” to even have my name mentioned during these Powerpoint presentations.

Whoever seemed to be ahead in the polls received their awards, except for me in the nomination for Best Artist. So even though I was ahead in the poll for Best Artist with 32.18%, the award went to someone who had 12.64% of the vote.

My immediate gut reaction was to shout out that this was not the 2000 Presidential Elections. If there was an ‘electoral college’ in addition to the public voting, again, no mass email was sent out among CAG members. But again, when everyone else who was again their respective categories won their awards, and I did not receive an award for the nomination which I had the most votes in, one tends to get suspicious.

For the record, I will state this: I hold no animosity towards the other winners. I extend my congratulations to them. I will even congratulate the person who won Best artist over me. Why? It’s because they mean no ill will. It’s not their fault. I only have misgivings towards one winner, who shall remain nameless at this time. What I do have is animosity towards the mystery of why even told I was ahead in the polls, I did not win for best artist.

It is not in my nature to be bitter, or to act entitled about receiving or not receiving awards. However, when you see that your name is ahead in the polls, yet the award is given to someone else, you begin question the organization you’re involved with. This is not the first time CAG has been accused of rigging the awards. Someone else accused CAG of something similar about the 2008 CAG awards before they were re-named The Hallers. That person is no longer part of CAG.

It’s obvious that CAG is in a serious state of decline. If you are someone just starting out doing comics and/or illustration, and you think CAG might be the one to help you get your foot through the door…think again. Unless you’re willing to kiss ass to be a part of some clique, or looking to waste time, then CAG is not for you.

For those who are still in CAG, and if you would still like to talk to me, please do. I value your friendship. For those who don’t…your loss.

As proof that I’m not making anything up, here are the poll results:
http://www.pollpub.com/best-artist.aspx

Poll Results For CAG/HALLER Awards 2010, Best Artist. Michele Witchipoo won in the catagory, but someone else won the award. Hmm...
JM DeSantis (19) 21.84%
Michele Witchipoo (28) 32.18%
Liz Ortiz (3) 3.45%
George Burnett (5) 5.75%
Ray Felix (5) 5.75%
Ravi Wilkie (1) 1.15%
Michele St. Martin (5) 5.75%
JC Padilla (11) 12.64%
Laura Melis (10) 11.49%

Despondency Oct. 2010

This past weekend at the New York Comic Con (NYCC 2010) was interesting. As always you learn new things, etc. Sold some items, did a commission. Sold mostly Babalon Babes issue four and Tales of Woe. Looking back, when there’s plenty of well established artists in your section, people who are ten times more known than you…moving books and being asked to do a piece, its not too bad.

More about the NYCC 2010 later. Don’t have the time to spare at the moment, so I’ll have to post about the NYCC later. In the meantime, here’s a pencil sketch done over the weekend:

Despondency. Done Oct. 2010. Pencil sketch by Michele Witchipoo.

Been working more with pencil lately, thanks to my current drawing class.

News Item

In Spring 2010, I did the back cover of IF-X vol. 2 issue # 6. Today, I was doing a quick search, and stumbled upon this by accident:

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/animeblog/index.php?blogid=958

Photo featured in online article about International Read Comics in Public Day for The Detroit News, late August 2010. Amber Guffey is reading IF-X issue 6, which I did illustrated the back cover and was published in Spring 2010.

It was an article about International Read Comics in Public Day. The article was published on The Detroit News website, and reported by Eric Henrickson. Here’s the news photo up close:

If you want to get your own copy, you order yours here:
http://idea-men.us/if-x.html

Next Weekend! New York Comic Con 2010!

Before I forget, letting everyone know that I will have a table at the New York Comic Con 2010. The New York Comic Con or NYCC 2010, will be held Oct. 8 -10 at The Jacob Javits Center, 655 West 34th Street. Just find my table, T14, in the Artist Alley section.

http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/NYCC/Artist-Alley/

The Last Museum At The New

Went to the New Museum yesterday, to check out the Brion Gysin retrospective. For those who don’t know, Brion Gysin (1916 – 1986) was a multifaceted subversive. To define this person, imagine looking up the phase “Nothing is true, everything is permitted”; next to that phase is a photography of Brion Gysin. As an artist, he tried his hand at everything, from painting, collages, poetry, film, and musical collaborations. Gysin is best known by his collaborations with writer William Burroughs and the ‘cut-up’ method.

Personally speaking…although William Burroughs is more known, I’m more fascinated with Brion Gysin.

Since this weekend was the last of the Brion Gysin exhibit over at The New Museum, I made a mini-pilgrimage. The entire second floor was dedicated to Gysin. Prints, paintings, typed correspondence between Burroughs and Gysin. You could see various sigils and glyphs within Gyson’s work, as the artist experimented with Asemic writing. There was also book layouts, photographs, and collages. In separate rooms was two short films, a slide show, and actual dream machine. The dream machine section was dark, except for small black floor pillows for the viewer to sit on.

So I stuck in some video and tried to tape in dream machine in 23 seconds. Couldn’t click off the iPhone in time so it ends at 25.

http://www.briongysin.ca/

“Brion Gysin: Dream Machine” at The New Museum ends its run tomorrow, Oct. 3rd, 2010.