Dia De Los Muertos

The end of October and beginning of November seem to resonate as a ghoulish time of the year for many Americans. But while North Americans celebrate the season by dressing up and getting drunk or making idle threats for candy and seeing the latest Saw sequel, in many parts of Central and South America, people celebrate the first of November by giving their friends candy skulls with their names written across the top. No idle threats here. Rather, the Day of the Dead is a celebration of death as the beginning of a new stage in life. Celebrants create altars and other tributes riotous with color, texture, and taste to deceased loved ones. In honor of this tradition, Altered Esthetic is exhibiting the work of 30 national artists. Many of the pieces are, like the altars, colorful and textural and rich with irony in the way only art with so many skulls and skeletons can be, but some take a more somber look at the Day of the Dead. Among the highlights is Meryn Hall's "Little Death," a sculpture depicting a skeleton with a doll-like head holding a lollipop and riding the back of a dinosaur skeleton, as in an eerie childhood diorama. Opening reception 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Friday November 2.
Nov. 1-Dec. 1, 2007