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In September Culver City’s Corey Helford Gallery welcomed Buff Monster in “Heavy Metal Ice Cream Smile”, his 3^rd solo show at the outlet. Art lovers obeyed the call of the sweet tooth and crowded the Washington Boulevard space filled with 20+ new super flat, super-colorful pieces by the famous street/fine artist.

A gargantuan, inflated ice cream cone towered above visitors, like the patron saint of all things smiley and looming. The show’s title sums up the mood well – despite the presence of Buff Monster’s signature friendly, fluffy characters, there’s a darkness that adds a welcome dimension of psychotic psychedelia to this new body of work. I was reminded of Takashi Murakami’s nightmare rainbow universe in the best way. Upstairs, Buff Monster’s highly anticipated new book Life Is Sweet: The Art of Buff Monster and limited edition serigraphs were available– and laid out on a table next to the DJ stand, which, naturally, was blasting heavy metal.

As an aside, I’m loving the new mobile-food-at-art-openings trend – the King Kone Ice Cream truck served up scoops of frosty goodness outside all night, free to gallery patrons!

Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb

 

4.25 (8 votes)

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