Art you'll never be able to unsee
Don't tell us we didn't warn you. This week's newsletter is all about scary stuff, kids
Hello! You're reading the CBC Arts newsletter, and if you like what you see, stick around! Sign up here, and every Sunday we'll send you a fresh email packed with art, culture and a metric truckload of eye candy, hand-picked by our small and mighty team. Here's what we've been talking about this week.
Hi, art lovers!
We've had monsters on our minds lately. Just look...
Yeah, yeah. Technically, that monster is on one of our producers' heads, not her mind — but you get the gist. The point is, it's been a weird week, content-wise.
Creepy weird. Horror movie weird. Weird in the best way possible.
And it started when we were sharing this Instagram post by Justin Leduc around the office.
Justin's a Toronto web developer who's been teaching himself 3D animation in his spare time. That video of a giant creeping on the Golden Gate Bridge exploded like it'd been bit by the Cloverfield Monster, amassing 9 million views in the first 24 hours, so he talked to us about how he wound up tricking Instagram into thinking San Francisco was under attack. Not on purpose, of course. It's not like anyone could have expected that countless people seriously believe in kaiju. (For real. Just scroll through the comments.)
One little outtake for you: during our interview, Justin speculated on why his video went viral. "I think a lot of people have commented, 'This is awesome but it makes me slightly uncomfortable.' And that's a feeling that people seek sometimes."
Agree? Because that pretty much nails how we feel when we look at these links.
Trypophobes: hold it right there. The art of Miles Johnston is not for you. Aurélie Guillaume, the Montreal artist who designed our August profile pic, gave him a shoutout in this Q&A, and now we can't look away from the surreal horror of it all.
Vancouver's Mimi Choi is already a fan of his. Just look how she re-created one of his drawings with makeup. Beauty and body horror, together at last.
Ambera Wellman is the winner of 2017's RBC Painting prize, but we regularly creep her Instagram account for the photos. Somehow, a pack of cheap press-on nails is all she needs to generate nightmare after beautiful nightmare.
The mutants in these drawings by Nathan Reidt almost glow. Guess that means we're going to be afraid of the dark — and the light — now.
What if Bosch designed the posters for '80s monster movies? To see the result of that unholy union, follow Parker S. Jackson.
You've got to see this
If you want to raise an army of the dead, you're gonna have to do it yourself - For the last 15 years, Rob Sacchetto has been drawing zombies every single day. Some 6,000 brain-eaters later, and the Sudbury artist can zombify anything: kids, puppies...even one of our filmmakers. Watch him at work.
Once upon a time, there was an artist named Laura Thipphawong - The Toronto artist paints fairy tales based on childhood monsters of the metaphorical variety (bullying, abuse, trauma), and she told us the deeply personal story behind the work.
The only story in this email that is not spooky in any way whatsoever - Whoa! Guess we did publish one thing this week that wouldn't double as Halloween content — unless you're booking a trip to Whitehorse this fall? Joseph Tisiga gave us his insider tips for visiting the Yukon capital.
Follow this artist
Callum Donovan-Grujicich (@callumdgart) - You know what's really scary? This artist is only 13 and he's part of an exhibition at the University of Cape Breton Art Gallery to Sept. 14. Throw waaaaay back to when he was 12, and watch his "Art Kids" short doc.
Got questions? Typo catches? Spare bottles of holy water to cleanse our eyes, brains and souls?
We're always around. Hit us up over email and we'll do our best to get back to you.
And if someone forwarded you this message, and you like what you've read, here's where to subscribe for more.
Until next time!
XOXO, CBC Arts
P.S. If you liked that mask at the top of the email, here's how you can make one just like it. S/O to Montreal's Ian Langohr for showing us how it's done.
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