Tonight was the night of the Angelique Houtkamp - Till Death Do Us Part exhibition at Outré. I have been designated as the gallery’s photog (which is a huge honor, I can assure you) - so I had committed to be at the show tonight to shoot proceedings.
After wading through the godawful sludge of Melbourne traffic at peak hour, we finally got to the gallery.
Angelique’s art has this undeniable old-school tattoo charm that is simply captivating and enchanting at the same time. Seeing her work throughout the Outré walls just reinforces the majestic beauty of Angelique’s prowess.
Unfortunately, Angelique wasn’t at last night’s show which is a shame as she is so photogenically gorgeous and would have been a treat to shoot, but her artwork is. The exhibition will be running till July 23 so you have plenty of time to see it all for yourself…
More from the opening night here…
Several weeks ago Sam and I were at Outré Gallery checking out the always amazing artwork they have available for sale. We recognized one of the curators Gemma from her Flickr set and subsequently introduced ourselves. Sam told Gemma whilst pointing to moi, this is ‘Hellblazer’. Gemma reacted excitedly and asked if I would like to photograph forthcoming events at Outré. I was blown away as I have been such a fan of the shop/gallery for many, many years. I usually attend many events there and always take photos anyway. To be officially asked by them to be their photog floored me. For me, this is such a huge honor.
The next event that was on the Outré agenda was Shag solo exhibition show ‘The Birds & The Beasts’.
I was all excited and a little nervous at the same time as now I would be taking photos on a somewhat official capacity. I was nervous because I wanted to do a good job for the guys and I wanted them to be happy with the photos.
We got to Outré a little after 6.30 and were rushed inside prior to the event beginning. I finally got to meet Outré’s main man Martin and introduced myself. I had been in correspondance with Martin back in the 90’s and he had assisted me with some articles for a website I used to run so it was great to have a formal introduction.
We were then introduced to artist Josh Agle - who is better known as Shag. He was very nice and courteous and I politely told him to try and ignore me for most of the night as I would be in his general vicinity taking photos of him mingllng with the people.
A little after 7pm the crowd began to grow and grow and grow! It was massive and at one point the only place I could find some respite was behind the counter. It was insane and was proving to be an amazing night.
I had literally worked up a sweat photographing the event but I can assure you, I had a wonderful time!
So to Shag and all the Outré crew, thanks for a fab night!
View pics of the night here.
Was fortunate enough to be on the Guest List at Outré Gallery’s Niagara Exhibition last night. As per the norm, the place was packed and brimming with fun and excitement.
I hung around the aforementioned Niagara like a creepy stalker trying to get a photo op. (Sorry Niagara!) And if it wasn’t for Outré’s Martin Macintosh who I looked at in despair and said "I’m not gonna get my shot, I give up!" who interjected and asked Niagara for me. (So a big thank you to Martin!)
A bit about Niagara: Niagara materialized on the scene in the late 70’s as front person for the noise/punk band Destroy All Monsters. Fellow band mates read like a who’s who, including Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw (big time artists), Ron Asheton (Iggy and the Stooges guitarist), and Mike Davis (MC5 bass player).
Her early cover art, done in pen & ink and gouache, appear to be self portraits. Her fierce female depictions of femme fatales plumb the depths of trash culture and post-feminism. “It’s the men who cry in my paintings”, Niagara muses. She later showed ‘Warholistic’ use of colour on her large canvases and actually met Andy Warhol in the late 70’s.
Colonel Galaxy, Niagara’s promoter/body guard comments, “Niagara paints off register to make it look like a bad silk screen but she does it with such precision, people still think they’re done by machine. Warhol would love it.”
Niagara works with a high profile gallery in Detroit and her limited edition prints are sold all over the world including Outré Gallery, Melbourne. She also sings with Dark Carnival with lead guitarist, Ron Asheton.
Outré Gallery: 249 Elizabeth St, Melbourne. Exhibition runs until 11 March. More info at Outré.
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