Gothishness and what not

Last night Gothic Art Chicago had a Reception for a show at the 1901 Gallery. I think it is a fairly new Gallery on Belmont. One of our friends Paul Garza had some of his peices in the show. Garza's stuff is incredibly detailed pen and ink drawings, something I have never been able to do well nor had the patience to do such detail with a pen. Unfortunately thought parts of his work are quit brilliant at times his composition and execution is off. He also has the tendency to be a bit busy in his work. But he did show two of his best pieces.

The overall exhibit, was kind of hit and miss. There was some very technically great work but the point, meaning, emotion of the piece was lost in the technical mastery. There was one very awful piece of art which I could hardly believe was shown let alone that the artist wanted to show the piece. The Artist work was astounding. Very difficult to describe the pieces shown were wood and leaf that he had used flame as a paint brush or pencil. But it wasn't just the technique that was astounding but they were emotionally powerful pieces that communicated. Those pieces stood out and kind of drowned out the rest of the show. The exhibition demonstrates why I am generally nervous about niche art: That you fit the notions of the niche can often outweigh artistry and talent, or at least the overall quality of the work is in part evaluated by how it fits the niche. In fairness to this particular show I think it is attempting to give an outlet to new artists who may be coming into their own.

DJ's Scary Lady Sarah and Peter Propaganda spun during the reception, so it was definitely a Gothic evening. The environment is rejuvenating for me, the music the people the fashion. It was a fun little evening out. And it seems a sign of a bit of a time of Gothic revival for Chicago. There are some new goth nights there is this gallery. The past few years I have heard rumor of various dramas that sort of rent the Gothic scene, and the crowd and DJ's at the long standing goth/industrial club Neo had been for awhile less than desirable. I have been busy with other things so all I can say is that I did notice that there have seemed to be fewer people at Nocturna and other Goth club nights I have made it to, so there in the least was an ebb. So it is cool to see somethings starting up and be successful and well attended.

Well, this afternoon is Reconciler's annual meeting. So, I am off to finish any preparations and put on my black Russian style cassock, which I wear. In our early days at Chase Cafe one evening they had accidentally double booked the space for Reconciler and a Gothic event, and some of the Goths saw me in my cassock and commented on how cool my outfit was, not realizing I was not there for the Goth event. So, there is overlap between church and Goth for me in many ways.