Kosart Studios & Gallery is proud to announce the 6th Annual MALEFICIUM Dark Art Exhibition, Chicagoland’s LARGEST Halloween themed art show featuring the work of over 65 award-winning artists from all over the world of all different media. It’s our BIGGEST show yet and has become a Chicagoland Halloween-time Tradition! Exhibition Opening & Artist Reception Saturday November 19th from 3-10pm at Kosart Gallery in Westmont, IL, FREE TO ATTEND and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
MALEFICIUM is curated by FACE OFF Season 4 Champion and Award-Winning artist J. Anthony Kosar, and includes the work of Clive Barker, Greg Hildebrandt, Forest Rogers, Thomas Kuebler, Vincent Proce, Donato Giancola, Erick Rodriguez, Bill Carmen, Travis Louie, Rick Dienzo Blanco, Virginie Ropars, David Palumbo, Menton Matthews III, Jim Pavelec, Jason Seiler, Akihito Ikeda, Travis Lewis, The Shiflett Brothers, Joshua Hoffine, Terry Wolfinger, Tom Baxa, Vincent Villafranca, Chad Savage, Vince Natale, Dug Stanat, and many more! Plus Film Screenings of The Crisanti Brothers’ ROT! Info here:
https://www.kosartgallery.com/2016-maleficium-dark-art-exhibition.html
Unlike other Dark Art shows, we include not just Dark Artists but also fantasy illustrators, fine artists, comic book illustrators, sculptors, concept artists, make-up and effects artists, photographers, and now even film directors and producers, all of whom are giants in their creative industries. Also, this isn’t a shock-value art show like some other Dark Art shows. All art is fun, but dark, and many scary in theme, almost as if each piece is a nightmare from each individual artist’s head. The show is family friendly and we get people of all ages coming to the show. This show is still very refined with a museum setting rather than a crammed salon style art show, and takes up most of our 2,600 sqft studio. And many of the artists are in attendance for the Artist Reception, with several coming from out of town specifically for the event.
EXHIBITION OPENING & ARTIST RECEPTION:
Saturday Nov 19th, 2016 from 3pm to 10pm
At Kosart Effects Studios & Gallery 760 Burr Oak Drive, Westmont, IL 60559
Visit www.kosartgallery.com for directions. This show is FREE TO ATTEND!!
ART WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLINE AFTER THE EXHIBITION OPENING HERE:
https://www.kosartgallery.com/2016-maleficium-online-gallery.html
Please invite and direct your friends, family, fans, and followers to our Official 2016 MALEFICIUM Events page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/532799026929715/
FEATURING THE ART OF GREG HILDEBRANDT!
Kosart Gallery is honored to once again have the work of one of our art heroes, the legendary fine artist and illustrator Greg Hildebrandt included in the Sixth Annual MALEFICIUM Drark Art Exhibition! Greg is known for his Lord of the Rings artwork, Marvel and DC art, artwork for Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and most notably for painting the first Star Wars movie poster in 1977 for Star Wars : A New Hope with his brother Tim Hildebrandt!
PLUS THE ART OF CLIVE BARKER!
Kosart Gallery is honored to have the work of one of our heroes, the legendary horror writer, filmmaker, and fine artist Clive Barker included in the Sixth Annual MALEFICIUM Drark Art Exhibition! Clive is known for the Hellrasier franchise, Books of Blood, and Night Breed, among other books and movies.
2016 MALEFICIUM IMAGE BY FOREST ROGERS!
The Image used for the Sixth Annual MALEFICIUM Dark Art Exhibition is MORRIGAN : Badb Catha by award-winning sculptor Forest Rogers. “Badb Catha” is Old Irish for “Battle Crow.” The sculpture is a 31″ tall one-of-a-kind mixed media sculpture, and will be on display for the duration of the 2016 MALEFICIUM Show. Photo of the sculpture, taken by photographer Bear McGivney.
PLUS THE ART OF FACE OFF CHAMPIONS, FINALISTS, & CONTESTANTS!
Kosart Gallery is excited to include the art from several artists from Face Off, the Critics Choice Award Winning reality make-up competition on Syfy in the Sixth Annual MALEFICIUM Dark Art Exhibition. The show is curated by Season 4 Champion and Season 8 Coach, Judge Match Winner, Award-Winning Artist J. Anthony Kosar who will have some of his personal art on display, along with a few pieces from his Kosart Studios. This year’s Maleficium will also include the art from Kosart Atelier Alumni and Instructor and Season 10 Contestant Anna Cali, Season 4 Finalist and Judge Match Contestant Wayne Anderson, Season 1 & 5 Finalist Tate Steinsiek.
PLUS A SHORT FILM SCREENING:
Kosart Gallery is thrilled to include an original short film ROT created using stop-motion animation by brothers Dino and Mark Crisanti. This short film will premiere during MALEFICIUM 2016!
EXHIBITION INFO:
Admission is FREE! ALL ages welcome (though due to theme and content of this show, attendee discretion is advised)! Costumes & Creative Attire optional. Wine & Cheese served on Nov 19th (must present valid ID to drink wine). Artwork will be for sale (unless marked NFS). All major credit cards will be accepted. TELL YOUR FRIENDS!
The MALEFICIUM Exhibition runs November 19th through December 16th with Gallery hours (11/20 – 12/15) by Appointment Only. Please call to schedule an appointment: 630.310.8353
RAFFLE FOR CHARITY:
At the Exhibition Opening and Artist Reception on November 19th, we will he holding a Raffle for Charity to benefit Little Friends Inc! All proceeds from the raffle will go to Little Friends and will feature prizes ranging from signed prints, books, comics, masks, figurines, and other great prizes donated by the artists!! Last year we raised $2,200 for Little Friends, more than doubling what we raised the previous year! Lets raise more this year! Get your raffle tickets at Kosart Gallery on Nov 19th. Drawing will be at 10pm on Nov 19th. Winner need not be present to win.
Little Friends is a private, non-profit organization serving children and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities. Based in Naperville, Illinois, Little Friends operates 11 dynamic programs including three alternative schools, family support and consultation services, vocational training programs, community-based residential services and the Little Friends Center for Autism. For more information, visit https://littlefriendsinc.org//index.cfm
2016 EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
Wayne Anderson – Clive Barker – Thomas Baxa – Rick DIENZO Blanco – Lydia Burris – Brian Busch – Anna Cali – Bill Carman – Dan Chudzinski – Iris Compiet – Jeffrey Cox – The Crisanti Brothers – Melita “MissMonster” Curphy – Dave Dorman – Lucas Durham – Grigor Eftimov – Aron Gagliardo – Donato Giancola – E.M. Gist – Josh Hardie – Tom Herzberg – Greg Hildebrandt – Joshua Hoffine – Akihito Ikeda – Lee Joyner – Douglas Klauba – Rich Klink – Jamie Koala – J. Anthony Kosar – Kosart Studios – Richard Kryczka – Thomas Kuebler – Travis Lewis – Travis Louie – Darick Maasen – Menton Matthews III – Matthew McCarty – Barrett “Bear” McGivney – Aaron Miller – Vince Natale – Mark A. Nelson – Winona Nelson – Blake Packard – Dave Palumbo – Jim Pavelec – Alan Pollack – Mark Poole – Robert M. Proce – Vincent Proce – Sophia Rapata – Bill Reinhold – Nicholas Rinehard – David Richardson – Forest Rogers – Erick Rodriguez – Virginie Ropars – Chad Savage – Chris Seaman – Jason Seiler – Daniele Serra – The Shiflett Brothers – Dug Stanat – Tate Steinsiek – David Thiérrée – Vincent Villafranca – Jeremy Wilson – Terry Wolfinger- All artist bios on the website, KosartGallery.com *Artists subject to change*
ARTIST BIOS:
https://www.kosartgallery.com/2016-maleficium-dark-art-exhibition.html
MALEFICIUM is a Latin term meaning “mischief” and is used to describe black magic and the dark arts. The name was selected to represent this exhibit as a metaphor for the Halloween inspired artwork.
A word from J. Anthony Kosar:
“My inspiration for putting MALEFICIUM together 6 years ago was to combine all the things I loved into one killer event. I am passionate about art and Halloween, and MALEFICIUM is the show that perfectly brings both of these together. Plus, I get to share some amazing artwork from some of my friends and favorite artists that I look up to and admire. Though there has been other Halloween themed dark art shows in the past here in the Midwest, none are like MALEFICIUM because we bring to Chicago art forms and artists that Chicago has never seen before, as we include not just dark artists, but also fantasy illustrators, fine artists, comic book illustrators, sculptors, concept artists, make-up and effects artists, photographers, and now even film directors and producers, all of whom are giants in their creative industries. We started with only 28 artists, mostly local, and now we have over 65 award winning artists from all over the world! It has become Chicagoland’s LARGEST and most anticipated Halloween-themed art show with some of the best dark-art to ever be exhibited in our city. We had to expand our visiting hours on the opening day to accommodate the flow of people to see the work, as it has become a favorite Chicagoland Halloween-time tradition.” ~ J. Anthony Kosar, (MALEFICIUM Curator, Founder of Kosart Gallery, Face Off Season 4 Champion, and Award-Winning Artist.)
Come meet several of these artists at our Exhibition Opening & Artist Reception on Saturday Nov 19th, 2016 from 3pm to 10pm at Kosart Studios & Gallery, 760 Burr Oak Drive, Westmont, IL 60559. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and FREE TO ATTEND!
https://www.kosartgallery.com/2016-maleficium-dark-art-exhibition.html
About Curator & Artist J. Anthony Kosar:
J. Anthony Kosar is an award-winning artist who specializes in Fine Art, Illustration, Sculpture, Creature Design, Make-up FX, and Product Design through his company Kosart Studios, LLC. Becoming a member of the I.A.T.S.E. Local 476 Studio Mechanics Chicago in 2016, he and his studio is doing SPFX Make-Up and sculpting props for both CHICAGO P.D. Season 4 and EMPIRE Season 3, as well as CHICAGO JUSTICE Season 1. Kosar has also worked on make-up FX for CHICAGO FIRE and FX props for CHICAGO MED, along with being the SPFX Make-Up Designer for the FOX pilot ZOOBIQUITY. Recently, Kosar and his studio were brought on to help turn actor John Malkovich into 7 characters from David Lynch movies by designing, sculpting, and applying prosthetics to Malkovich for Playing Lynch : Psychogenic Fugue by Sandro Films with Squarespace and the David Lynch Foundation, including John Merrick from The Elephant Man, Henry Spencer and Lady in the Radiator from Eraserhead, Special Agent Dale Cooper and the Log Lady from Twin Peaks, Frank Booth from Blue Velvet, and the Mystery Man from Lost Highway. In 2007, he interned at legendary Stan Winston Studio creating effects for INDIANA JONES 4 and James Cameron’s AVATAR. Kosar designs and sculpts Halloween masks for Zagone Studios, one of the leading mask manufacturers in the world. He creates special effects for theater, film, commercials, and print. Kosar teaches the art of FX through his Kosart Atelier: School for Entertainment Arts in Westmont, IL, and also taught at other schools such as French Pastry School in Chicago, IL and Make Up For Ever Academy in New York, NY. In 2013 Kosar became the FACE OFF Season 4 Champion. FACE OFF, a reality-based competition on the Syfy Channel is the biggest competition for Make-Up FX, and Kosar won 6 of the 11 Spotlight Challenges, plus 1 of 4 Foundation Challenges, setting the record of most consecutive wins in a row and most wins by a single contestant on a single season. Of his Spotlight wins, he won the DC Superhero challenge where his winning character “The Infernal Core” appeared in the DC comic JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #16, and also won the DEFIANCE challenge where he shadowed the FX make-up crew on set in Toronto, Canada. Kosar also appeared on FACE OFF: Judge Match during Season 7 where he was one of six chosen from all seasons to help the judges compete, and he was selected to be on judge Neville Page’s team with Miranda Jory, and their team won. Kosar has since had several of his students from Kosart Atelier compete and even also win on FACE OFF. Besides FX, Kosar is an internationally awarded fine artist, illustrator, and sculptor, having been awarded by the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, American Watercolor Society, Illinois Watercolor Society, and several others. In 2009, he was named “One to Watch” by Watercolor Artist Magazine. His work has been selected to appear in SPLASH 13: Best of Watercolor, in volumes 19, 20, 22, & 23 of SPECTRUM: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, and volume 4 of Infected by Art. He was honored by being selected as one of the judges for SPECTRUM 21. His work has also been featured in the pages of Fangoria, Variety, Rue Morgue, Entertainment Weekly, Portes Magazine, and Sci Fi, among others. He has also been juried into the Main Show for IlluXCon 6, 8 & 9. He designs and sculpts prototypes for toys, collectibles and medical anatomical models, illustrates for novels and comic books, curates art gallery exhibitions at his Kosart Gallery including the highly anticipated Annual MALEFICIUM Dark Art Exhibitions, and creates fine art paintings and sculptures. Kosar was Valedictorian of the class of 2008 at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, IL earning his BFA in Illustration, while taking what he learned from 2-dimensional visual storytelling, and applying those principals to teach himself the art of sculpture, make-up, and special effects. See some of his work on his website: https://www.kosarteffects.com/
