basement show opening

The upcoming Basement Gallery group show is entitled "A Noise in the Basement" and the following artists, including myself, will be showing mostly new work and a few older ones:
bill carman, erin cunningham, jerms lanningham, ardith tate, john warfel, and ben wilson.
if you're a fan of any of their work, especially bill carman's, i suggest you get there early thursday as hardcore collectors are already snatching up the best pieces in the show.
all artists in this show are more "illustrator" than "fine artist," i would say. i, being completely biased, think illustrative work is rapidly gaining on fine art- if not matched or surpassing- as a viable art or movement thanks to the success and cultlike followings of "low-brow" or "pop-surrealist" artists like mark ryden, joe sorren, and camille rose garcia. and no doubt the rise in silk screened poster art is bringing back a fascination in illustration as well. it's like discovering your first favorite soda as a kid that you couldn't get enough of.
mine was black cherry shasta.

in other news, i picked up a fine collection of classic old horror films like "the cabinet of dr. caligari" and "nosferatu." a few pals and i watched "the last man on earth" last night and i was impressed. my friends mocked the cheesiness of storyline or acting at times and i felt disappointed they could not see the art in an older film like this. the movie, starring vincent price in his youthful glory, was based on the novel I Am Legend. as the remake with will smith came out recently, i thought it would be a treat for my friends to see the movie that long preceded it. and i never realized before how much of an influence it must have had on the entire horror film genre! especially "Night of the Living Dead (1968)" for which George Romero is credited such brilliance and genius, how truly "original" was his idea??
the plague-infested so-called vampires of "the last man on earth" were more like zombies in lifeless action and primitive thought. though they seemed to retain some memory and purpose, more like vampires. neither description seemed to fit these ghouls and for purposes of getting past the they-aren't-vampires-but-not-quite-like-zombies hang-up, we referred to them as "vombies."

watch it. see how romero could have viewed it and completely envisioned his undead masterpiece. then go to the art show.