It’s A Fantasmagoria At Roq La Rue

October 3, 2024• byMichael Strangeways

We love a fantastical art show and especially when it’s on the SPOOKY SIDE, so happily our favorite art gallery, Roq La Rue, 2806 Madison East down in Madison Valley is pulling out all the stops for their October offering, FANTASMAGORIA. It features a lineup of superstar contemporary artists including Syd Bee, Femke Hiemstra, Hannah Flowers, Ben Ashton, Ryan Heshka and many more. Check out the images below and at Roq’s website, https://www.roqlarue.com/fantasmagoria and pop in this month to check it out in person!

Fall is upon us- and the night starts to lengthen…Its a time of unusual dreams and fantastical visions as the veils between the worlds start to thin…

We are thrilled to present Fantasmagoria – a group show inspired by the more surreal elements of the subconscious.

One of the definitions of fantasmagoria (or phantasmagoria) references strange illusions that shift in a non-linear fashion, or a changing scene composed of many elements. It also harkens back to the late 1800’s/early 1900’s, when darkly delightful Victorian “spook shows” were all the rage and featured mechanical optical illusions to create “ghosts” or paranormal happenings. Lastly- it references bizarre hallucinations one might see, often in a feverish, half awake state.

We asked a group of superstar artists to explore this theme for this show, and we are excited to share the incredible artworks created for this show. You won’t want to miss this!

Artists:

Syd Bee, Femke Hiemstra, Hannah Flowers, Ben Ashton, Ryan Heshka,
Erik Mark Sandberg, Alessandra Maria, Jean Labourdette, Naoto Hattori, Kristin Kwan, Francesco Lombardo, Laurie Lee Brom, Sarah Best,
Josie Morway, Esao Andrews, and Jason Puccinelli

Online Collectors Preview goes out Thursday, October 3rd at 12:00pm PST
Opening reception Saturday, October 5th 6-9pm – all are welcome!

Hannah Flowers
Autumn’s End
Oil on Linen
Painting size 16″x19.5″ / framed 22″x27″)

Esao Andrews
Incantation
24″x30″
Oil on Cradled Panel

Ryan Heshka
Black Worm & Pink Sprinkles
Oil on Canvas
18″x24 “/ framed 19″x25”

Erik Mark Sandberg
Saliva
Oil, acrylic, and epoxy resin on panel
painting 30”x 24” x 1.5” / framed 32”x 26”x 2

About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.