Perhaps Richmond’s best known costume-wearing intergalactic space-weed-smoking metal band/performance piece is Gwar (perhaps), and they are maybe as prolific at producing artifacts of their own lore as they have been at writing, touring and performing their music.
Perhaps Richmond’s best known costume-wearing intergalactic space-weed-smoking metal band/performance piece is Gwar (perhaps), and they are maybe as prolific at producing artifacts of their own lore as they have been at writing, touring and performing their music. Starting this First Friday, the Gallery at Black Iris Music will be home to “Let There Be Gwar!,” an exhibit of artifacts and art from the nearly 30 years of mayhem that has been Gwar, as well as work from many other artists involved in the collective that birthed Gwar – The Slave Pit.
The aim is to not only showcase a wide variety of recognizable props and costume items, but also a plethora of yet to be seen goodies, from handwritten set lists to incomplete/unreleased genitalia molds. It’s easy to recognize the implicit value that these Gwartifacts hold with those that follow the band. For those people and anyone else interested in a visual history lesson and art exhibit, this will almost certainly deliver.
Gwar’s publicity approach throughout the years can be described more as self-immolating than self-deprecating. When appearing on Jerry Springer to “discuss” “shock rock” the members did little to play down those dire accusations, instead somehow managing to make a mockery out of an already insane situation. It was a thing of legend. Much like anything Gwar does, it solidified their reputation as PR warfare artists. There’s no publicity like publicity thats supposed to be bad but actually just makes you laugh. This might be the first event where doubters of the claim that they are real, living, breathing artists with a mind to create and comment on the world we live in (and the one we don’t ) can be exposed to Gwar and The Slave Pit in serious depth without getting too soaked in blood.
Let There Be Gwar! is one of the coolest interactions between music fandom and art, largely in part because of what Gwar represent besides their music. Despite how iconic their outfits and props have become, to most people they are still the object of much mystery, perhaps robbing the minds and process behind the non-musical portion of Gwar of due credit. Curator Benjamin Thorp feels this way.
“They are a group that encompasses everything from theatre, to fine art and popular culture” Thorp told me, while discussing how the band is viewed, vs. what they really are.
And the same can be said of the collective, the life form that has been behind Gwar’s creative process since their inception. The exhibit will be showcasing many of the artists in the collective, and according to Thorp, there will be a distinct stylistic correlation between the band and the rest of the collective. As in – the art on display didn’t lead to Gwar, or the reverse, but rather both have been in a symbiotic relationship for three decades. It should be very exciting to see this first hand. Thorp put it better: “The aesthetics that Gwar came out of are present in all of these different artists, and what The Slave Pit is really great at doing, and you can see it through Gwar, is taking all of those different styles and artistic sensibilities and synthesizing them into what Gwar is”. Bravo. Sounds awesome.
Thorp also described how, like most art collectives themselves, Gwar and The Slave Pit have been celebrating free speech this whole time. The exhibit will be arrest reports, including those from lead singer Oderus Urungus’ (Dave Brockie, in human-speak) infamous arrest for obscenity in a North Carolina nightclub in 1990. Also included in the exhibit will be the Cuttlefish of Cthulu, the “obscene” fallace seized during the arrest. You can’t make this stuff up. ”
For 30 years they have been, in the words of the curator ” creating a suspension of disbelief” and we are getting a rare chance to un-suspend our disbelief in a way, and look into the very real creative element of the band. Thorp agreed with the suggestion that this suspension of disbelief has created a situation in which those who weren’t initially entertained by the act might not have bothered to really appreciate it at all. Gwar doesn’t care if you think they are offensive – that’s an old hat complaint – but they might not appreciate how this label has distracted from the “genius” (my words and his) that has been their social commentary.
The other aim of the “dual aim” here, with the gallery exhibit, is to spread the word on the feature-length documentary and coffee table book, both of the same name. 30 years in, and the minds at Black Iris, a collective much like The Slave Pit have decided it was time for an expose on all things Gwar besides the live show we have all come to know and love. And it’s exciting from fan mail described by Thorp as “really touching” to the wild creations of the members themselves, the exhibit is prepared to show the very human side of Gwar, and how very real and even life-changing their act about space-aliens is.
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The story of Gwar is that of transcendence and this illustrates that well. Gwar has been an island for its fans, like outer space was for them.
“How do we transcend this burned-out, bombed-out town?” Thorp described as one of the thought processes that led to the creation of Gwar. Space was the answer in 1984. Now, in 2013, they are poised to transcend the definition of visual art, show off a ton of cool items, and prepare you for the other two pieces of the three-piece Gwar retrospective that will be available in the next year as the legendary act turns 30.
Where: The Gallery at Black Iris Music– 321 W. Broad Street.
When: This Friday, September 6th- Saturday September 28
No white t-shirt required
