'Art of Darkness' at HeARTspot Art Center and Gallery honors spirit, schlock of Halloween

Is there any more quintessential American holiday than Halloween? The Fourth of July, especially in this era of deep and profound political division, is less a celebration of our nation than it is a reason to drink copious amounts of Bud Light and scare dogs and war veterans with fireworks.

Thanksgiving and Columbus Day are tainted with histories of colonialism and slaughter. All religious holidays are suspect, including Christmas, for which its celebrants conscripted a pagan celebration into the service of Catholicism, prior to switching allegiance to blatant consumerism.

Election Day is not deemed worthy of holiday status. Valentine’s Day keeps the purveyors of flowers, truffles and lingerie afloat. Labor Day doesn’t celebrate workers in any significant way; it’s just another day to fire up the grill.

And while there is an argument for April Fools Day — so close to Tax Day — it is Halloween that is the perfect American holiday. On Oct. 31 (and for some, the weeks leading up to it), everyone is free to be whatever they want to be.

Anyone can be something else: a monster, a witch, a villain, a superhero, a punk rocker, a movie starlet, a dragon, a drag racer or a drag queen. Everyone is welcome. Celebrants go to the doors of strangers, their identities hidden, and they are rewarded with candy. And you can get away with TP-ing a neighbor’s tree. That is America in a nutshell. Or it should be.

At the HeARTspot Art Center and Gallery in East Providence, proprietor and artist Jennifer Gillooly Cahoon is displaying the “7th Annual Art of Darkness,” a celebration of the season in which the vast majority of the exhibitors display works of art that honor the spirit and the schlock of Halloween.

As juried by Rhode Island-based painter and illustrator Sydney Darrow, the show is family-friendly with no more gore than that might be seen in an “Itchy & Scratchy” segment on “The Simpsons.” There is nothing any more frightening than an episode of “Wednesday.”

Unlike In previous iterations of the “Art of Darkness,” there is a dearth of old school Universal Studios Monsters. There is not a creature from the Black Lagoon, or a hunchback from Notre Dame or a phantom from an opera.

There is no Boris Karloff pieced-together corpse brought to life by a madman and a bolt of lightning; there is no Lon Chaney, Jr. lycanthrope pure in heart; and there is no Bela Lugosi bloodsucking count listening to the children of the night.

But Dracula’s three brides do make an appearance in a series of three paintings by William Gallagher. Appropriately fanged and garishly made-up, the actresses Monica Belluci, Michaela Bercu and Florina Kendrick appear much as they did in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” the 1992 film starring Gary Oldman in the titular role and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Painter MIchael Ledoux clearly draws inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” In “Autumn Window,” a crow sits on the bloodied face of a young woman lying on the floor. Her eyes are lifeless and haunting.

There is a corvine element as well in Dina Haskin’s “Raven'' as the monstrous, oddly muscular bird swoops downwards, more in raptor mode than scavenger. It is unclear what the musical score in the background represents, if anything, but it works from a compositional point of view.

Nature gone awry is a recurrent theme throughout the exhibition. I have no idea about Carver Rapp’s no eye deer, a ceramic sculpture of a buck (called “Fallow Deer”) with gaping white abysses where its eyes should be. But his antlers have many eyes all over them, reminiscent of the many-orbed Argus of Greek mythology.

Abigail Worden’s large image called “Centipedes 2” works on any number of levels, including just as a lovely example of pattern making. Somewhat as sickly sweet in hue as Gummi Worms, they are red, orange and yellow, and it takes a moment to recognize them as centipedes. But once you see them, you can’t unsee them.

Worden also presents “Consumption,” a small painting of pieces of raw pink meat, so realistically rendered that it appears to be a photograph at first glance. I confess to being a carnivore and loving a good steak but there is something mildly and appropriately revolting about this painting, which makes it perfect for the exhibition.

A print by Brad Vaccaro titled “Death and Beauty” reverberates with a sense of the neoclassical. A giant skeleton, its bones tinged with a shade of light orange, holds a purple flower from which arises a tiny naked woman. It is an ancient theme — think Death and the Maiden, Eros and Thanatos, and the sex urge and the inevitable demise. Life is naught but desire and despair.

Stu Powers, who utilizes thrift shop art finds as a starting point, both honors the original maker's intention and transitions it into something new. His “Stu-dle on a Print  #54” exploits coulrophobia (the fear of clowns) to great effect. The clown’s red nose is a knob that, when turned, plays “Send in the Clowns,” making that song even creepier than it already was.

Krzysztof Mathew’s “Exterminator” is a clever two-part assemblage of a feral cat and a dead rat. The catch is that they exist as mechanical beings, android foes as old as time itself. Arnold Schwarzenagger would approve.

Other work of particular interest includes Andrew Tedesco’s ”Oculus,” which may or may not be an empty autopsy theater; and Alison Plump’s “Transverse Figures, Part 2,” a magnificently rendered drawing of a ribcage and other body parts.

Trick or treat!

“7th Annual Art of Darkness” is on display at the HeARTspot Art Center and Gallery, 1970 Pawtucket Ave., East Providence, every Saturday until Nov. 15 and by appointment. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, Oct. 26, from 6 to 9 p.m.

"Art Beat" is a weekly arts column by contributing writer Don Wilkinson.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: 'Art of Darkness' at HeARTspot Art Center and Gallery