Being a Cali kid, I’m supposed to know how to drive, but I don’t. That might be weird in way, but I do have a love for cars. Maybe this is why I have always thought that Ed “Big Daddy” Roth was a cool dude. Before I had ever seen any of his cars, I knew his cartoons featuring Rat Fink – who to me is a total icon of counter culture – plus I know for a fact he had an influence on many of the artists from the early 80′s punk scene. Ed was a man of fucking passion and was so talented, from being an expert auto painter/customizer to a barber to a cartoonist. When I look at the stuff he created it really inspires me because I realize that as long as I follow my heart, everything else will follow. Today CVLT Nation salutes Ed “Big Daddy” Roth with a huge gallery of his cartoons and outergaltic rides!
Fever Dream…Christian Rex van Minnen0
Posted In Art,Painting
The paintings of Christian Rex van Minnen would look at home in another dimension, hanging on the walls of a Renaissance palace owned by a wealthy mutant. I imagine myself walking down an ornate hall cluttered with oil paintings of their terrifying ancestors, their bulbous growths and glistening fluids looming over me. His paintings are rife with Western gluttony and luxury, justified by centuries of despotic rule. At the same time, he creates the perfect foil to his rich colors and lustrous oils with his subjects’ erupting skin, all bubbling boils and cancerous lumps, afflicted with the diseases of the poor. Our luxury is consuming itself with pestilence, exposing the ugly reality behind the decadent mask. His subjects are faceless, in that they often don’t have any discernable features, but van Minnen makes their faces from other stuff, piecing together their personality with bumps, folds, pores, tattoos and droplets. You feel their gaze although they have no eyes. It’s kind of awkward, but stunning at the same time; portraits that would suit the house of a collector of curiosities. You can check out some of his paintings below, and I highly recommend following his Instagram if you are into the weird!
Leviathan… Nick Keller1
Posted In Art,Painting
You know when you see album artwork, and the amazingness of it alone forces you to listen to the music enclosed within it? I am a sucker for good album artwork, and more often than not, when a band has some really, really sick composition on its album cover, it makes me like their music more. Couple this with my passion for fantasy artwork, and Nick Keller hits my art spot! His highly detailed oil paintings transport me into a world whipped with ferocious winds that whirl around me and fill me with a delicious dread. He manages to create a sense of sharpness with soft lines, a myriad of colors all blending together but still distinct, almost as if I am seeing through a fog that cuts me. He envisions giants who descend upon the earth, their very size and power malice alone, but their intentions with what awaits them on earth are unclear. They are full of fire and blinding light, and could crush us with one small movement, but they seem to exist without regard for us who look upon them. His subjects seem like extensions of the natural world, while at the same time they are extraterrestrial, but they grow out of flame and mountain and cloud and ocean and tree, and more a part of this earth than anything that lives and dies on it. His paintings tell stories that are too vast for words. No wonder this Wellington, NZ based artist was chosen to do conceptual artwork for The Hobbit, he is actually capable of capturing in images the complexity of Tolkien’s texts. Keller is also the artist behind covers for NZ bands Beastwars and Heresiarch. Enter his worlds at your own risk below…
Can you see the pain in color? Can you see the revolution in color? Can you see the ghost of right now in color? Frida Kahlo was an artist that worked magic with her creative expression, and became an artist that would go on to change the world. When I look into her paintings, I see joy surrounded by anguish. For some reason, Frida’s style inspires me to make it through my hard times on this planet. I have so much respect for her – the way she gave a voice to the voiceless. Frida’s pieces are decades old, but still resonate with the human condition that we all face today. Something I find interesting is the way she used vibrant colors to paint gothic scenes of surrealism. Today CVLT Nation celebrates Frida Kahlo with an essay of her work, plus we are showing the Frida Documentary…May the ghost of color haunt me forever!
We have covered artist/tattooist Scott Move in the past, and we are big supporters of his artistic vision. So we are stoked to hear about the show he has curated, Absence of Light, which opens this Thursday the 11th at The Circle in Soho, London, at 7pm. He has put together an amazing group of UK artists and no doubt it will be a dark and despicably excellent event! Check out the flyer below and represent at 21 Noel Street!
I had friend who owned a hearse. It was how he got around town, in slow, loud and methodical style. One time, he had to drive me to work – I had 20 minutes to get there, it was a 5-minute drive, a no brainer. But he didn’t tell me that his hearse went 15 to 20/km tops. I was late, but I did arrive in a hearse, so my boss forgave me. There is something about these vehicles of death that fascinate us; the last earthly travel of a corpse, before it rests forever in earth. Back in the day, hearses were ornate and richly decorated, demonstrating a certain nobility in death. Especially in South America, where they were often made of carved wood attached to the standard Cadillac or Lincoln body – a huge, plumed and shiny black death carriage – or in Japan where mini-pagodas adorn the backs of hearses in gold splendor. I am a big fan of the 50s models, with their wings and tails and white-walled tires, or the 20s and 30s models with their false curtained windows, ones that the dead never need look out of. In California, you might even see a pimped-out, fully tinted hearse sitting on dubs if you’re lucky. After the jump, Check out a gallery of beautiful and strange funeral coaches!
I have always been into things that are perceived as being on the outside of society. As a young kid, I remember when I first saw a Salvador Dali painting; I could not look away. Ever since then, he has been one of my all time favorite artists. From the outside looking in, Dali always represented what it meant to just be yourself and create what you want from your heart. This is why Fuck Yeah Dali is our favorite tumblr this moment. After the jump, melt your brain cells and step into Salvador Dali’s mad mad universe of creation!
Nothing is Heavy & Scratch Records Present
Black Wizard and YOB
This Weekend!1
Posted In Apocalyptic Blues,Art,Doom,Events,Features,Illustration,Music,Painting,Sludge
Thank god I am an Instagramhoor, because if I hadn’t checked it in the spare minute I had I wouldn’t have seen what fucking awesome shit was going down in my hometown of Vancouver today and tomorrow! Nothing is Heavy and Scratch Records are putting on a couple of art and music showcases at Interurban Gallery in the downtown eastside, and not only will you be able to admire the work of infamous artists like Alison Lilly (who put me on to these events), Bonnie Dobbin, Sab Kay, Gam Strudwick and Dena Lazerenko, but you will also be enjoying to extremely dope lineups! Friday features Black Wizard with War Baby, Astrakhan and Wilt, and Saturday features the legendary YOB with Alda and Harrow. Anyone who has toured through Vancouver knows that your audience is 150% with you and would literally bring the house down if their weed smoking wasn’t keeping them in check, so these shows are going to be off the hook. If you are in the vicinity this weekend make sure to head over to Interurban and say hi from CVLT Nation!
My experience with ouija boards is limited to two years of my teenage life. From the age of 14 to 16, I was obsessed with ouija, and I “played” with many different groups of people in many different parents’ basements. We used spirit boards every chance we got, and would use them for hours at a time, or at least until someone very negative and evil got a hold of our planchette. This could happen in minutes or hours, but it happened every time. In the spring of 1994, we wanted to talk to Kurt Cobain, of course. He had just died, and my friends and I (and teenage girls everywhere) spoke to his spirit briefly through the board. He told us that his favorite composition was “About a Girl,” and – I shit you not – the next day my best friend and I heard that song played in several different stores five times throughout the day. That was when I first got into ouija, but most times after that we ended up speaking to Damian or Demon or Demian or D-whatever the evil spirit called itself at the time, thrusting the planchette at one of us, telling us it hated us or her or everyone. One night, my friend and I decided to use ouija, so we made a board (as we always did; only one of my friends actually owned a real one, usually they were cardboard), sat down in her empty house with wine and candles, and within 10 minutes were so scared we flipped the board and planchette and swore off ouija then and there. I have never touched a board since. But now I have found a treasure trove of beautiful handmade ouija/spirit boards on Etsy! They are carved, varnished, painted and sculpted by hand and some are truly lovely to behold. I am sure if they are used correctly they are a great way to connect with spirits, but as a teenage girl we didn’t have the respect or experience to use them correctly. I have picked some of my favorite I have found on Etsy, from craftspeople like PereplutCW, SpiritBoard, Midnight Crossroads, Magic Craft Shop, Lord Mock Designs, Graven NY and Hollow Wares. After the jump, check out a selection of handmade spirit boards…but watch out for Damian!
Plugged Into Lucifer…
FARRON Loathing
Art Spot Light!2
Posted In Art,Black Metal,Illustration,Music,Painting
From the unknown depths of filth comes an illustrator that is able to conjure the chaos of Hades and show you how beautiful it can be. He goes by the name of FARRON Loathing and when you look at his work, his blackened artistic passion punches you in the neck! Each line he draws tells a cryptic story that holds meaning. To me, it seems like FARRON creates in a way that asks the viewer to go deeper into his art than what you see on the surface. What I really dig about his work is not only his otherworldly subject matter, but also his use of space – his composition is on point! His imagination is plugged into Lucifer’s left hand, so therefore he is always able to come up with some shit that makes me say, unholy hell, how did he think of that? FARRON is not only an illustrator, he is an all around creative anti-human that does what he does because it’s in his nature. For instance, for the new NAILS cover he created, it seemed like he combined his painting skills with graphic design to come up with a unique and classic album cover. It doesn’t stop there – he also directs videos for & is the frontman of Lighting Swords of Death. Now back back to his art – check out a huge gallery of FARRON Loathing’s work after the jump…don’t be afraid if your eyes start to bleed!
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