Gothic Artist Paul Booth Teams with Designer Marcus Maximus Mera for New Horror Jewelry Line
It’s finally Halloween weekend, and there are cool events taking place all over the country, but if you live in or near NYC, one of the coolest is Last Rites Gallery‘s ninth annual 13th Hour exhibition and Halloween party, taking place Saturday, October 29th. Why should you attend? Because Gothic artist Paul Booth is debuting his new jewelry line there.
Can’t make it? Never fear – we have all the details and a few images right here!
From the Press Release:
World-renowned dark artist Paul Booth is pleased to announce his most recent creative endeavor: limited edition wearable art. This new line of original rings and pendants is a manifestation of Booth’s continued growth into new mediums and artistic disciplines. Booth joins forces with jewelry designer Marcus Maximus Mera, who began his career designing for such jewelry heavyweights as Lazare Kaplan and Alexis Bittar.
With Mera’s design prowess and Booth’s art and sculpting style, the new pieces are conversation-starting works of art. Forged from sterling silver, each highly-detailed casting of Booth’s sculptures are meticulously tooled, oxidized, and polished by Mera’s own hand as well as individually finished by Booth himself.
Booth launches The Booth Brand‘s limited edition jewelry line with a series commemorating the iconography of his signature brand Last Rites, which he founded in 1991. Since that time, the infamous Ritean Skull that is the brand’s crest has been and continues to be tattooed on countless passionate individuals around the world. The Ritean Skull represents a certain dedication to the appreciation and exploration of the dark side of the human condition through art.
The trademark piece in Paul Booth’s new collection is the “Captive Fetus,” an image based off his own 1990’s flash tattoo art that has become a mascot for Last Rites over the years. This dynamically haunting creature serves as a suitable collection centerpiece with fascinating details and textures reflective of Booth’s distinctive art style. The piece encapsulates small sterling silver beads so the pendant mimics the sound of a baby’s rattle when shaken.
Of the “Captive Fetus,” Booth commented, “The Captive Fetus is symbolic of one’s ‘inner child’ and the inherent darkness that lies therein. Constantly restrained and policed by the id, this self seldom gets free to see the light of day. I know if my inner child got loose, the world would surely plunge into chaos. I even had to make him a baby rattle just to keep him occupied.”
Paul Booth’s new jewelry collection will debut on the evening of October 29th coinciding with Booth’s Last Rites Gallery’s ninth annual 13th Hour exhibition and Halloween party in New York City. The event is open to the public; more info and tickets can be found here.
Paul Booth is a tattoo artist, sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and musician. Through multiple mediums, he focuses on the dark, macabre, and surreal as a means of personal development and therapy. Perhaps best known for his impact as a tattoo artist, Booth took the world of tattooing by storm with his formidable use of black and grey ink to depict demons, beasts, evil fetuses, and other nightmare-worthy visuals. It wasn’t long until a cult following developed and swelled to include heavy metal rockers, actors, musicians, and other purveyors of the dark aesthetic. Booth’s signature imagery graces the skin of many celebrities including Greg Allman, members of Slayer, Slipknot, Pantera, Down, Lamb of God, and many more. This following, along with his quintessential imagery, has led Rolling Stone to dub Paul as “The New King of Rock Tattoos.”.
In 1998 Booth opened up Last Rites Tattoo Theatre in New York City with some of the finest tattoo artists in the world. In 2007 he expanded his artistic and professional scope and opened the first dark art gallery in New York City, aptly named Last Rites Gallery. In 2000 Paul co-founded an international charitable art organization called The ArtFusion Experiment (AFE) with world-renowned peers Filip and Titine Leu. In association with The International Child Arts Foundation (ICAF), AFE is devoted to bringing art to underprivileged children from around the world. This tattoo-centric art movement focuses its energy on a unique collaborative art concept and demonstrates the strength of the contemporary tattoo artist’s ability to work together as a community. This aspect of AFE allows artists to put their egos aside and collaboratively fuse their individual styles to achieve unequaled works of art. It also gives the artist the opportunity to be both a student and a teacher simultaneously. This unique nature of AFE provides artists from around the world a chance to work together to create a single piece.
In 2007 Booth’s directorial debut, The ArtFusion Experiment, had the honor of winning Best Feature Documentary at The Newport Beach Film Festival and continues to extend the reach and success of the movement he created. His second film, the experimental pseudodocumentary Paul Booth’s Last Rites: Volume I, deftly illustrates his unique twisted vision and reveals the sinister depth of his eclectic universe. The film provides not only a closer look into the process of Paul’s art but, more importantly, a glance into the lifestyles that surround him. Both films together share a juxtaposition that offers a glimpse into the mysterious mind of this enigmatic artist.
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