October always seems to be a month packed full of amazing events and this year is definitely no exception. So far, it has already proven to be chock-full of can’t miss live performances, but, as anyone that’s paying attention can tell you, it’s also a great month for art exhibits. Being the time of year that it is, you’re sure to find plenty of venues and galleries hosting events that give very overt nods to the darker side of things–last week I was able to catch 70s Italian prog/horror movie soundtrack legends, Goblin on their first ever US tour–but when you’re hoping to get into the Halloween spirit by looking for artwork that leans toward the macabre, The Last Rites Gallery can’t be ignored. As a “premiere gallery for the Dark Art movement,” it’s kind of their thing, and you know that if these cats can pull together a really solid, consistent, gory, and versatile zombie-themed exhibit in May, then their Halloween group show is definitely something to keep your festering, bloodshot eyes on.

Opening this Saturday, October 26th and running until December 7th, The 13th Hour is one of the biggest exhibits that the gallery hosts each year. As a “celebration of the Halloween spirit,” the theme for the show is fairly broad, and the interpretations will be vast. That being said, my limited reading has lead me to understand the term for the mythical “thirteenth hour” as a reference to the one-minute time-frame that exists between 12:59 and 1am each night. During that 60-second span, demons and beings that exist outside of our own physical universe are said to be given the opportunity run free, partaking in hijinks, tom foolery, chicanery, practical jokes… what have you. Meanwhile, time is said to be frozen, during that window, with each second in the 3-dimensional world operating as normal, while they function 60 times slower for these netherworld entities; hence creating a full hour for them to run amok, while we continue to experience that minute at its normal rate, powerless to do anything about it.

Now in it’s 6th year, the annual group exhibit will bring together over 40 different artists from various disciplines. On their “about” page, Last Rites describes themselves as “a haven for artists who prefer to explore the ominous, uncomfortable, and eccentric in their work,” and while that is clearly and strongly represented in the contributions that we’ve already witnessed for the The 13th Hour, so is the broad spectrum of talent that is involved. What I’ve truly come to respect about the Last Rites Gallery is how they never seem content with restricting themselves to the usual suspects; instead, opting to reach out to more unorthodox sources, like horror movie makeup artists, for inclusion in their shows. Such decisions in their curatorial process add dimension to their group exhibits, while managing to avoid becoming overly redundant and played-out in territories and genres where it could be far too easy to do so. This time around, the more typical painters and sculptors will be joined by folks who are more known for their works is such disparate fields as tattooing and osteology.

Here is a list of contributing artists:

Make sure to check out a selection of preview images below the following event details…

via press release

Last Rites Gallery opens it’s sixth annual The 13th Hour group exhibit, celebrating the spirit of the Halloween Season.

In its annual exhibit, Last Rites sets out to present a broad-spectrum representation of Dark Surrealism. Held days just before Halloween, the show is the gallery’s largest group exhibit, and features renowned artists from around the globe- working in an array of mediums including painting, drawing and sculpture. From gothic elegance to finely crafted grotesquery, the beauty within the darkness is embraced and brought into the spotlight.