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“It was a voluptuous scene, that masquerade.” - Poe
Before we proceed to praise DAMNED III as a major art exhibit, a glorious gathering of local talent, a colorful social event, and a tantalizing playground for the grown-up libido, let’s touch upon several particulars that often go overlooked or unmentioned in connection with this show. We’ll begin with a question.
What are we? Not who (seek help if you haven’t figured that one out by now), but what?
Relax. No need to rush to wiki for a definition of ontology or phenomenology or some other abstruse discipline. And you needn’t dust off those Psych 101 texts. We’ll give our own answer to the question and kick it around with you.
We are that sublime and terrifying territory between what we feel and what we think. The former is a natural consequence of nerve endings and the urgency of procreation; the latter is the inescapable tendency to reflect on what we feel. And the invisible zone that “separates” the locked pieces of that mind-body problem is, in fact, the true canvas of our personalities. It is a world where the gravity of our ego is in abeyance and a path to something or somewhere where a particular form of belated redemption awaits. It’s the house without a locked door and the dwelling place we enter either deliberately or by accident. There are those who return often after their first visit. Others (the majority in most cases) prefer not to make a second call.
This is the third annual exploration of that terra incognita and (not surprisingly) it’s an even more polished and ambitious one than the two that preceded it. Eclectic to the nth degree, DAMNED III is nothing less than a royal summons to investigate artistic introspection and to see what kind of “enlightened darkness” results. It has a gothic patina in many respects, but it is NOT a Halloween bash. It touches on matters erotic, but it is NOT The Dirty Show. The masquerade party/six-course dinner that will highlight the final soiree on Devil’s Night will be more Baudelaire than Bela Lugosi.
And the art you will enjoy is intended to be the very ambiance of the show itself. 128 creative people have contributed or will contribute paintings, sculpture, installations, videos, music, dance, acrobatics, spoken word performances, and the like. And yes, there will be absinthe. Indeed, if the Tangent Gallery/Hastings St. Ballroom only had the additional virtue of being fashioned like that “castellated abbey” Prince Prospero resided in … well, the color scheme would be perfect.
It would be criminal not to mention a few of those remarkable contributors – and we hope that you will pursue a more thorough investigation of their works and remarkable skills in the months ahead. In addition to pieces submitted by Leonard Nimoy and the estate of Marcel Marceau, DAMNED III will feature Aunia Kahn, the cirque of Justine and Jade, Robert Morris, Gabrielle Pescador, Eddie Thiel, Sioux Trujillo, Robert Landry, Kristine Diven, Satori Circus, Ana L. Bar, the hypnotic swaying of Chantel and Amber, Jerry Shirts, the aerial graces of Flyhouse, the magic strings of Dixon's Violin, Miss Pussykatt and the Devil Dolls, the virtuoso presence of Sugar Hiccup who will be providing music for the masquerade ball - an ultra rare performance and an appropriately monikered person from somewhere named Weirdartist. That is not the tip of the iceberg, folks, that’s just an icecube off the glacier!
Damned III, 7 p.m. Oct. 28-29, Tangent Gallery, 715 Milwaukee, $10 in advance. 18+.
Damned Masquerade Ball, 7 p.m. Oct. 30, Tangent Gallery, 715 Milwaukee, $15 in advance; $20 at the door, 18+
