Tomorrow night, the Boogeyman descends on Los Angeles’s Nicodim Gallery for an eerily compelling group art show, titled Omul Negro (“The man in black”). The theme is an exploration of evil, madmen, monsters, darkness, and the faceless (and multi-faceted) “Boogeyman” as a cultural archetype.
Above is Los Angeles artist/filmmaker/occultist Brian Butler with his “Circle and Triangle of Art for the Evocation of Bartzabel, the Daemon of Mars” that’s included in the show. Brian says that the artwork was designed “in the tradition of the late British occultist Aleister Crowley” and first used in a ritual performance in 2012, of which you can enjoy the video evidence below. Brian promises that he has “activated the Work, and the demon Bartzabel will be in full effect for the opening reception tomorrow – Saturday, August 6th.” The show will be on view until August 20.
Curated by Aaron Moulton, Omul Negro also includes work by:
Daniel Albrigo, Will Boone, Mike Bouchet, BREYER P-ORRIDGE, Gunter Brus, Church of Euthanasia, John Duncan, Damien Echols, Brock Enright, Bob Flanagan, John Wayne Gacy, Ed Gein, Adrian Ghenie, Douglas Gordon, John Houck, Jim Jones, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Ted Kaczynski, Daniel Keller, Mike Kelley, Marco Lavagetto, Lazaros, Lionel Maunz, Asger Kali Mason Ravnkilde Moulton, Alban Muja, Ciprian Muresan, Steven Parrino, Hamid Piccardo, Ana Prvacki, Jon Rafman, Sheree Rose, Sterling Ruby, Benja Sachau, Max Hooper Schneider, Richard Serra, Robert Therrien, Ecaterina Vrana, and Zhou Yilun.
From the show description:
Spanning forty artworks, Omul Negru is an anthropological occurrence, one comprised of both cultural enactment and ritual embodiment, invoked to explore the varied notions of the Boogeyman. It is a celebration of civilization’s most important character, a figure that has transcended in the 21st Century into a monster of ever-expanding applications. This spectrum of visual culture’s darkest corner is traced through artists, martyrs, serial killers, madmen, and monsters; to explore the many faces as well as the facelessness of the Boogeyman. It traverses the origins, stereotypologies and embodiments of the Boogeyman through contemporary, historical, and archetypal lenses – staging an ominous atmosphere of summoning and possession.
Omul Negru (Nicodim Gallery)
Video of Brian Butler’s “Bartzabel Working” 2012 performance at L&M Arts:
John Duncan’s “Scare” (1976/2016, glass-mounted C-print):
