I studied William Blake’s poetry in grade 12, and while I found his writings haunting and beautiful, if someone had told me he was also a prolific artist, I would have been so much more interested in him. In fact, I had no idea he was an artist until I was given a book of his illustrations a few years later. Characterized as a Romantic or Pre-Romantic artist, to me, Blake is more of an OG metal artist, in that his work invokes the monsters of humanity and the fear of the evil supernatural so often referred to in metal imagery. He depicts Satan and dark angels in human form, demonstrating how darkness exists in humanity instead of as an animal, outside force. His work is extremely unique and in a genre of its own. Biblical imagery makes up the majority of his inspiration, but as opposed to the usual blind reverence shown for Christianity, Blake communicates the sinister atmosphere of judgment that organized religion imposes on its followers. Blake’s last artistic commission was a series of watercolors for Dante’s Divine Comedy in 1826, cut short by his death in 1827. These watercolors embody the macabre spirit of Dante’s work, and Blake captures the suffering souls and sinners to perfection. For a devout man, he certainly had a talent for creating dark and disturbing depictions of punishment and hell. After the jump, check out a selection of Blake’s paintings…

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Alison Lilly is from my neck of the woods, and I have to say I am very disappointed I never got the chance to see her work in person while I was living in Vancouver. Her illustrations and paintings are dark, psychedelic journeys into a world ruled by magickal doom Goddesses. Her inspiration comes from the Natural world of death and decay, where our bodies become the feast of maggots and worms and spawn a new and beautiful landscape. Lilly’s subjects have a vibrant motion in them, but at the same time are very clean in their lines and definition. The flesh melts from their bones in viscous drops and is torn from their bodies by giant worms, but while it is disturbing and provoking, her grotesque imagery is not in any way repulsive. Indeed, Lilly draws the viewer into her world with intensity. She has worked with bands like Harvest the Infection, The Almighty Excruciating Pain, Abriosis, Ancients, Black Wizard and ANION on exquisite album artwork and t-shirt graphics, and is currently working on a series she calls the Adornment series. Lilly is at the top of my list of artists for my (for now) imaginary CVLT Nation curated group show. After the jump, check out a selection of Lilly’s works…

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Cvlt Nation extended family member GIVE UP is at it again with his recent release  of HATEFUCK 10. This issue contains the filth, the scum, the collected and spill-over from the elements of GIVE UP art and design. The black and white photocopy zine, 8.5×5.5, numbered edition of 75. Issue 10 features a black on black card cover with a screen printed detail 8.5×12 centerfold, and additional printed transparency pages of the most recent spew. You can pick up your copy of HATEFUCK 10 over at the GIVE UP webstore. More after the jump.

Adam Bloom‘s dissected bodies call to my soul in their silent voices. Looking at his dark and heavy earth-toned paintings is like watching an autopsy through bloody eyes. However, his paintings do not invoke death, despite the state of their subjects – they are fully alive and moving and communicating with the viewer. This Southern UK artist captures the poignancy of darkness so well in his colors and in the expression of his subjects, whose flesh is often ripped from their bones, or carefully removed like cuts from a cow. In fact, much of his work invokes modern day butchery, where we take apart the bodies of animals in huge factory settings and hang their decaying corpses in acres of meat locker. Bloom’s work makes us aware of our own dissection at the hands of society – a concept that is particularly resonant for women, most of us have felt like stripped pieces of meat since the age of 12 – and his portrayals of babies invoke the idea that we begin life this way, ripped apart before we are able to see who is tearing at us. Many of his subjects appear to be holding themselves together or grasping at their mutilated bodies, perhaps hoping that they will be able to piece themselves together. Whatever the case, Bloom’s paintings speak on a subconscious level, and have the ability to send thoughts spinning through your mind. After the jump, check out a gallery of Adam Bloom’s work, and ask yourself what you see…

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Ireland has been an important source of excellent bands, bloggers and inspiration for CVLT Nation so far. I have not traveled there yet, but when I come across people like Paul McCarroll, it motivates me all the more to make the trip. McCarroll is a digital painter of unsurpassed talent, and with his digital tools he creates imagery that passes before your eyes once and stays in your brain forever. For those of you unfamiliar with digital painting (as I was before I stumbled across his work), it is painting done directly to your computer canvas, for example in Photoshop. No tricks or shortcuts, just using digital brushes and tools to paint your masterpiece instead of the physical oils and canvas. As someone who has used Photoshop for many years, and messed around with the paint brushes on my own compositions, let’s just say my paintings never turned out like this. McCarroll uses light and shading in a genius way to develop highly detailed textures on all of his subjects. One of my favorite series he did for his own band, Scald, for their 2006 album Vermiculatus. It features a family – mother, child and father – all dismembered in various ways, but all joined by veins – the combination of creepiness and connectivity is perfect. Many of his pieces revolve around human interconnectivity, in both beautiful and terrifying ways. There are a lot of infiltrated orifices in McCarroll’s artwork, but rather than being invasive or offensive, these connections are suggestive of profound ideas about human society. From his imagery, I get the sense that he is illustrating the calculated breeding of ideas and dependencies that create the power structures that rule our societies. Whatever the case, his artwork is truly mind-blowing, and I strongly suggest you check out the gallery of Paul McCarroll’s paintings assembled after the jump…

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Dan Harding is the perfect example of someone born with the innate talent and passion for creating art. A self-taught painter with a fascination with horror, Harding’s oil paintings bring characters from your worst nightmares to life, but with a humanity and emotion often missing in one-dimensional evil movie things. This New Jersey artist’s monster portraits show his deep appreciation for his subjects, and he conveys their complexity in glistening eyes and austere postures. While some of his paintings are moving in their portrayal of kinder, nobler monsters, Harding is also the master of evil and debased enjoyment of human fear and pain. His demons are bubbling with twisted mirth, mocking the viewer with their razor sharp teeth and fingers, and their boiling skin. He is able to create monsters that are torturer and tortured, and populate a fantastic and terrifying underworld. His painting is stunning, and the fact that he is self-taught is inspirational when you see the level of detail and depth in his work. I am annoyed that I just found him, because apparently I have missed several of his LA openings over the past few months. Right now he is showing as a part of “Under the Gun” at the Articulated Gallery in San Francisco, so if you are able to go, please go for me. After the jump, check out his paintings, as well as a rad video of him sketching from Sketch Theatre.

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In an age of ill-thought-out crappy tattoos – I live in L.A., I see those fucking lips-on-the-neck every day – it is so refreshing to find those true artists who are still making tattoos an immense commitment and dedication. Lior Cifer is a New York artist whose intense images of death and destruction make their way into breathtaking paintings, charcoal compositions, and ink under skin. Cifer brings death to life – he makes you feel the pain and suffering of his subjects. The whirlwind of movement in his work surrounds you with gusts of death stench and it’s evil power envelops you. He creates sinewy layers that are bursting with anger and pain. Cifer also experiments with painting on different objects like cleavers, saw blades and clothing – I wish I had found his metal vest way back when I was posting about them, it is definitely up there with the sickest I have seen. The people who dedicate vast tracts of their bodies to Cifer’s evil artwork are definitely deserving of our respect. Check out some of Cifer’s impressive artworks and tattoos after the jump…

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Terence Hannum of Locrian not only lives his music, he shares it via visual representations of depth and reverence. Hannum’s work embodies the spiritual connection many of us feel when in the presence of live music. Most of the time, I feel like I have never truly heard a band’s music until I have seen them live, because the vibrations emanating from the amps possess my body and soul in a way that recorded music almost never does. Hannum paints images of this experience, creating Gothic halls with altars of amps and candelabra, invoking the holy experience of live music. Like Locrian, Hannum’s shrines are to the dark power of music, waves of sound that wash over you and cause chills of reverence to rise up all over your body. In addition to his gouache paintings, Hannum also create video installations playing on the same theme, such as his Offering piece embedded below. And he authors beautifully presented and laid-out zines featuring both dissections of his video pieces and his gouache paintings. Ablation is a series of stills from video he shot of Bloodyminded at one of their 2007 shows, and the images work to convey the intensity of their performance in a zine that can be re-lived over and over. Death Posture is a collaboration with fellow artist Scott Treleaven, and is composed of Hannum’s paintings and stills form Treleaven’s Super 8 footage. Both zines are available for purchase on Hannum’s website. Terence Hannum is an artist’s artist – he is deeply passionate about his creations both on the level of his band and in what he makes with his hands. Check out images from this prolific creator’s collections after the jump…
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Fur and flesh bursts out in arcing ribbons to reveal the machine within…Brian Montuori’s paintings are explosive renditions of the technology of animals and mankind. They blast you with color and movement, and show a sort of genius that is rare in the art world these days (with the exception of everyone I cover on CVLT Nation haha!). While reading over his blog, I came across one of his posts that mentioned that he had painted this crazy, detailed, beautiful piece in one night and day. I have no concept of that kind of frenzied creation. There is so much depth and complexity in his work, it’s amazing that all of it can just come blurting out of his brain. Montuori’s paintings are dark in their pace and their subject matter, animals attacking and bats tearing out of coffins and scarecrows, but at the same time it is a darkness surrounded in intense color. The color is refreshing in an art world so obsessed by black – don’t get me wrong, black is still my favorite color, but sometimes I forget how much chaos can be caused by swirling, vibrant colors. In addition to his visual arts, Montuori is also the singer for New York band Psychic Limb, and has done art for other bands like Dillinger Escape Plan, Poison the Well, Dalek and more. After the jump, take a peek at some of his paintings I managed to collect from around the net.

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Today CVLT Nation has something really special for you…we got an opportunity to sit down with Joe Petagno, the artist who drew for Motorhead for almost 30 years, inventing their classic mascot Snaggletooth, and also for bands like Hawkwind, Led Zeppelin and Nazarath, among many others. But there is so much more to his talent and person than those years – his paintings are breathtaking in their beauty and movement, and their ability to envision the fears of humanity. Petagno has lived all over the world, and has used his art to share the many wisdoms he has acquired in his life. At a time where so much of the world seems to be sleeping while they take it up the ass from Authority, Petagno reminds us that we are here on CVLT Nation because we aren’t afraid to talk about what’s wrong with the world and with how human beings relate to one another, and he inspires us to keep our voices raised against injustice. Without any further ado, check out our rad interview with Joe Petagno…

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