Death Metal Art!! Welcome to Hell…

4 Jun 2008 Category: Events & Exhibitions, Features, Illustration, Japan

Death Metal Art!! Welcome to Hell…

Yummie! And awesomely scary! Work by American artist Mark Riddick, who began networking in the death metal/black metal scene from the tender age of fourteen.

We have showed you the sweet drawings of the likes of Nobumasa Takahashi, Shantell Martin or Chris Silverthorn. However today, we make a departure and descend into a more sinister world: The current “Dia De Los Muertos vol.0″ show at Galeria de Muerte in Ueno, Tokyo, is a death metal themed group exhibition by five domestic and international artists. PingMag had a chat with gallery owner Narutoshi Sekine who takes you on a darker tour… for artful moshing with a corna hand!

Written by Chiemi
Translated by Natsumi Yamane

First of all, what kinds of artists are represented at Galeria de Muerte? Since ‘Muerte’ means ‘death’…

This gallery incorporates a record shop that mainly deals with death metal music, so we represent artists who design the kind of record jackets in the shop as well as others with their own unique styles.


The statue of a grim reaper, or “Santa Muerte” (Saint Death,) in the gallery.

To this day, Santa Muerte is worshipped in some Mexican communities.

Would “Death Art” be the name for such an art category?

Actually, I’m not sure. In Japan, even the music genre of “death metal” isn’t really acknowledged so it’s still unrecognised as an art form and I don’t think there is a name for this genre yet. It’s considered just as another illustration even by other artists. In other countries, there are artists like David D’Andrea PingMag introduced before who draws metal style jackets and holds solo exhibitions on the same theme. But in Japan, I hardly know any artists who gets as far as that.


Work by Scott Stearns. Click for a bigger image.

Striking lines with a great sense of speed!

Now, what was your idea behind this group exhibition?

It was something as simple as “I think it’s cool, but don’t you?” and also to support the artists of this genre in Japan.

I noticed that most of the works in the exhibition are drawings consisting of astonishingly fine lines…

They were originally for flyers so that’s probably the reason why many of them are black and white drawings that can be used easily by photocopying. In other countries, there seem to be many cases where band members draw such images themselves.


Work by British artist French. See a larger image from here.

And another striking work by Mark Riddick.

A lot of the art here seems to be based on the theme of ‘death,’ is that because of all these death metal songs with such lyrics?

It depends on the bands, but most of them feature something extremely decadent, anti-religious or things that seem to come right out of horror movies, like zombies and visceral organs spilling out….

Visceral organs… ah, okay. Tell us more about the artists, please!

Toshihiro Egawa is a self-studied artist who has been specialising in computer graphics and he kindly made his first ever attempt on ink drawings for this exhibition. He has created cover jackets for bands so he is quite well-known in countries outside Japan.

One of Toshihiro Egawa’s delicate drawings on a pair of VANS.

What an unbelievably high degree of perfection for his first ever attempt on drawings!

And more of Toshihiro Egawa.

Goatsheep is a T-shirt artist in Japan and the work on display resembles an black magic altar. It’s actually a gorgeous interior designed just to hold one cassette tape!


The “Five Devils Cassette Tape Altar” by Goatsheep.

Said cassette tape case held in a frame.

French is a British artist I found on MySpace and he has so far created jacket designs, organised solo exhibitions and collaborated with businesses. He is probably the most successful artist of the lot.


One of French’s works featuring strikingly delicate lines.

At a glance, it even resembles Japanese ink and wash paintings.

Scott Stearns is based in Ohio and he draws illustrations for record sleeves and plays in a band himself. He is a powerful type and produces numerous works. I personally collect his works and so I approached him for this exhibition.

One of Scott Stearns’ dynamic line drawings.

Mark Riddick is also from America and he has produced many illustrations including T-shirt designs for a major metal band. His name was well-known for quite some time now so I contacted him for this exhibition. They are apparently all connected over the internet.


Another one by Mark Riddick.

All sorts of ‘things’ spilling out of their bodies…

So the ‘death art’ scene is united across the border – any plans for continuing this series?

It’s at an experimental stage at the moment, so we’ll see how it goes and hopefully keep it going. For now, the works are at an affordable price and it’s nice to have the original work for a record jacket in your collection. So please come and have a look!

Narutoshi, thank you so much for introducing us to death metal art! The exhibition runs till Sunday, June 15th - and it’s really worth checking it out!


The flyer for this exhibition.

Info:
Dia De Los Muertos vol.0
Venue: Galerie de Muerte
Address: 3-32-1-3F Higashi Ueno, Tokyo
Nearest Station: Inaricho Station on the Ginza Line
Running until Sunday, June 15th, 2008. Closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

76 Comments

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  2. [...] Link Tags: Death, Design, Illustration, Metal, Satan [...]

    Posted by: Death Metal Art! Welcome to Hell… - Nerdcore on June 5th, 2008 at 2:08 am

  3. awesome stuff, i love all the little details they put into the drawings.

    Posted by: luke on June 5th, 2008 at 5:23 am

  4. I like stuff like this - I was 13 when I’ve seen pictures like these for a first time. It was cover for Cannibal Corpse - eaten beck to life. lol

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  6. [...] from Pink Mag blogs about an art exhibition on death theme. The writer inteviews the gallery owner Narutoshi Sekine about this art category. Posted by Oiwan [...]

    Posted by: Global Voices Online » Japan: Death Art on June 5th, 2008 at 6:37 pm

  7. [...] from Pink Mag blogs about an art exhibition on death theme. The writer inteviews the gallery owner Narutoshi Sekine about this art category. Posted by Oiwan [...]

    Posted by: Global Voices Online » Japan: Death Art on June 5th, 2008 at 6:37 pm

  8. [...] via PingMag and High [...]

    Posted by: Toshihiro Egawa x Vans | Off The Wall Site on June 6th, 2008 at 2:07 pm

  9. [...] Source : PingMag. [...]

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  10. Death to false metal!
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    Posted by: Janice on June 6th, 2008 at 7:14 pm

  11. [...] Japanese visual artist Toshihiro Egawa, most famous for his death inspired computer graphics customizes a series of Vans as part of his current exhibition. The Tokyo exhibition appropriately titled “Dia del Los Muertos” showcases 5 artists  along with Egawa with a Death Metal theme.  Via Ping Mag. [...]

    Posted by: Toshihiro Egawa X VANS | Sneaker Set: sneaker news, release dates, luxury sneakers, limited edition sneakers on June 6th, 2008 at 11:38 pm

  12. wow… i used to draw exactly like this when i was 14… then i moved on… lol.

    Posted by: dethklok on June 19th, 2008 at 8:50 pm

  13. Those are all great artists, if you have the time check out my work. It’s a bit more obscure than Moyen’s, French’s, and Mark’s, but still very “death metal” nonetheless…

    Posted by: Justin Bartlett on June 19th, 2008 at 11:06 pm

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