Dead and Dreaming
A Tribute to H.P. Lovecraft
September 30th - October 22nd

Opening Reception: Friday, September 30th • 6-10pm
Closing Reception: Friday, October 21st • 6-10pm

A note from the curator, Sam Heimer:

When considering an artist’s body of work, one often looks for the late greats, the other artists whom have had an impact on said body of work. But one rarely ponders the prose or writing that may have had an impact on said artist.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937), American author of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, has had an immense impact on the artistically inclined since he put pen to paper. It is obvious why artists who dabble in dark and macabre imagery have been touched by Lovecraft’s brand of New England terror for decades. Often thought of as verbose, Lovecraft’s long, in depth descriptions of architecture, landscapes, horrible flora and debased fauna verbally paint a picture almost as vivid as an artists rendering. These detailed descriptions in Lovecraft’s work truly make the reader see each tentacle, tooth, wing, and membranous head that stalks his writing. 

And like the dreams dictating the artist’s hand creating a bas-relief of clay in the Call of Cthulhu, or the humanesque daemon photo-reference in Pickman’s model, one almost feels possessed, a strong urge to dip a pen in ink and illustrate the evil that is so thoroughly described in each story. And that is what artists have been doing since the publishing of Lovecraft’s work. In re-printed volumes, personal sketch books, mythos inspired film, games, and writing, Lovecraft’s work takes on almost a second life, a horrible re-birth by the hands of hundreds of artists worldwide, carrying on Lovecraft’s legacy, weather for print or pure pleasure, they keep the green, noxious flame burning in some burrow, tomb, or cyclopean vista just beyond the wall of sleep. This coming autumn, 20 artists depicting the stories and characters of H.P. Lovecraft will stoke that flame at Paradigm Gallery in the exhibit ‘Dead and Dreaming’. The artwork from this show will be collected in a volume also titled ‘Dead and Dreaming’, available at the gallery and online.

Dead and Dreaming Artists:
Jay Bevenour
Michael Bukowski
Eamon Dougherty
Tim Durning
Alex Eckman-Lawn
Jen Gin
Justin Gray
Kirsten Harper
Rachel Harper Joseph
Sam Heimer
Jeffro Kilpatrick
Christine Larsen
German Orozco
Paul Palcko
Christian Patchell
Anthony Pedro
Rog Petersen
Joseph Querio
Paul Romano
Mike Wohlberg

Opening Night Photos: