The macabre dances with artistic ingenuity as local artists help ring in el Dia de los Muertos at Young Blood Gallery and Boutique. Skeletons stuffed into coffins bearing emblems of the morbid will line the gallery of Young Blood beginning on Saturday, Oct. 30.
The Day of the Dead show, an annual exhibition of uniquely crafted small-scale coffins, will take this year’s event one step further with a huge opening reception to introduce about 100 artist-designed and created coffins celebrating Mexico’s Day of the Dead remembrance festivities that pay homage to the souls of the deceased.
“The Day of the Dead theme is a cool alternative to the typical Halloween celebration,” said Aziree Pemberton, the Public Relations Coordinator for Young Blood Gallery and Boutique.
During the opening reception, local band Grinder Nova and his Pitstop Mariachi will be supplying the musical sounds, while the Good Food Truck will be selling Mexican-inspired cuisine outside the venue. Before the reception is slated to kick off at 7 p.m., MakeATL will be conducting a sugar skull-making session from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.
To enter the exhibition, artists purchase a coffin and are then free to use the nearly 12-inch figure to their own creative whim. In the past, coffins have been painted on, sculpted around and hung in odd positions in the gallery. Anything goes seems to be the motto for this annual art collective.
The artists featured in the show are mostly local creatives. They personalize their coffins as a memorial for someone or something.
Sanithna Phansavanh, an artist who recently had an exhibition at Young Blood titled “Knock on Wood,” has contributed coffins to all of the Day of the Dead shows.
Phansavanh’s first two coffins were detailed after La Calavera Catrina, an image created by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posadaroughly in a series of pieces satirizing c o n t e m p o r a r y figures in the early 1900s. Roughly translated into “elegant skull,” La Calavera Catrina has become a fundamental image in Mexican culture, and is commonly found in pieces representing the Day of the Dead.
“I was really intrigued by the idea that, no matter how beautiful and privileged you are, we all end up in the same place,” Phansavanh said about the inspiration for his first coffins.
In the production of this third casket, Phansavanh took a break from the theme of his first
two coffins and strived for a more personalized tone. Modeling his creation after a portrait of Andre Derain, a peer of his artistic influence Henri Matisse, Phansavanh created a miniature memorial for his late father.
“As Día de los Muertos is a celebration of those who are no longer with us, I wanted to use the show as an opportunity to see my Dad once more,” said Phansavanh. “I’m using Matisse’s piece as guide for style and composition, since it set off the entire emotional thought.”
Young Blood Gallery and Boutique is the brainchild of two art aficionados, Maggie White and Kelly Teasley.
In ‘97, the two grew restless of various art institution’s refusal to show the work of emerging artists so they began holding art shows in their own home. The idea caught on and in ‘99, the duo looked for a more permanent space to hold their art shows.
“The whole reason we opened was because there was nothing around for young, emerging artists to be able to show their work. We kind of stuck with that theme the entire time even though we have grown older,” said Teasley, co-owner of the gallery and boutique. “We like fresh, new work and supporting young artists and helping them further their career.”
In 2003, Teasley and White opened up the boutique in juxtaposition with the gallery to feature handmade crafts of the modern, indie variety created by artists in the area. Finally in 2008, Youngblood Boutique and Gallery relocated to its current location in the Poncey-Highlands district.
“The area is kind of in between— we looked at both the Virginia Highlands areas and Little Five Points—and [the latter] wasn’t quite the fit for us,” said Kelley. “[Here] there’s lots of really cool businesses around us and it’s just great to be around lots of other independent businesses. There’s always people walking around going to the grocery store and stuff like that. It’s nice to be part of a community.”
Young Blood Gallery and Boutique prides itself on being an affordable avenue to purchase artwork as well as the home to shows of up and coming artists in Atlanta. The shop has garnered acclaim from Creative Loafing, the Atlanta- Journal Constitution and Lucky Magazine. Young Blood has received many awards but most recently, Creative Loafing named the venue Best Gallery, Best Place to Buy Indie Crafts and Best Place to Score Affordable Art for the year of 2010.
“There aren’t many spaces that offer the gallery and the boutique, you can still come in and if you can’t afford the art, you can still buy a print or a piece of handmade jewelry from the shop that’s inexpensive,” said Teasley.
The gallery and boutique draws in diverse crowd of patrons, ranging from young college students to older parent types.
“There are young collectors buying their first piece, and there’s people who have been buying from us for a long time and are now able to afford the more expensive pieces,” said Teasley. “We try to create a range of artwork in each show so there is something for everyone to be able to afford. We make sure that the artist creates print or smaller pieces that are inexpensive so that younger people can buy them as well.”
Working in conjunction with Tweet Designs, a graphic design firm in Atlanta, the Day of the Dead show is entering its third year and allows artists to become more involved with Young Blood Gallery and Boutique as well as the local art community. The coffins will be for sale for around $150 to $400.
The opening reception promises to be a night of morbid gaiety as the artists of the coffins can be found mingling among the crowd, which is expected to peak into the hundreds during the night.
“There’s always amazing work and the show is becoming an annual fixture in Atlanta’s art scene,” said Phansavanh.
The opening reception for the Day of the Dead show will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 30, at Young Blood Gallery and Boutique (636 North Highland Ave.).
