If you’re in the Atlanta Area this week, drop by the Mint Gallery for We Are Going to Eat You, “a collection of artwork inspired by the weird & wild world of cult cinema.” (The premiere was this past Saturday, but it will be up through the week.) Curator Eric Weber contacted me about it a little while ago and I thought it was pretty damn cool, so I decided to interview him about it.

1. This is the second year you’ve done the show; tell us how it all began.
Back when I was in art school during the early 1990s, pretty much all of the work I was doing was based on horror movies. I did multiple series of photographs taken directly off of the television of films like The Last House on the Left and Blood Feast. I would then attempt to piece the shots together into new sequences and redefine what was happening or take them completely out of context. They looked interesting, but what did it mean artistically? I have no idea.
Movies have always found a way into my everyday life, especially in my creative and artistic pursuits. I always thought it would be exciting to have an entire gallery show of artwork based on films. I eventually discovered that a gallery out in Los Angeles, Gallery 1988, was doing a show called Crazy 4 Cult which was based on this same idea. I was so obsessed with (and jealous!) of the idea that I wanted to somehow develop an East Coast version. Luckily, through some mutual friends, I was connected with the people at Mint Gallery in Atlanta, and last April they were gracious enough to let me use their space so that I could put a show together. It was called We Are Going to Eat You (a title based on the tagline to Lucio Fulci’s Zombie) and featured work by several artists from all over the country.

2. What were some of the pieces featured last year?
We had fake lobby cards from non-existent sexploitation films, original photography inspired by the giallo genre and the work of Dario Argento, intricate hand drawings based on the Ghoulies and an amazing painting featuring Stripe from Gremlins facing off against a chestburster from Alien. There were also some inspired, hand-crafted needlepoint samplers featuring movie quotes from favorites like Dawn of the Dead and The Big Lebowski.

3. How did you find all the artists?
Like last year, I’ve contacted various out of state and local artists to participate. A lot of them I discovered online, primarily through Flickr. That site has been an incredibly useful way to see new artwork and meet people from all over the world that share this same passion for weird movies. Mint also did a call for entries and I received some interest through that route as well. One guy, Nicolas Caesar from Los Angeles, who contacted me has an incredible collection of original paintings that he’s done – the first one that caught my attention was a piece he did based on Fluffy, the crate monster from Creepshow. Once I saw that, I knew I had to have that in the show. There are a few other pieces that I’m also excited to get my hands on – like watercolors of one of the Krites from Critters and a clever riff on The Deadly Spawn by Kayla Kromer plus an excellent painting by Elizabeth James of Farmer Vincent wearing his pig mask from Motel Hell. Once I saw these pieces, I felt this immediate bond with the artists. I thought, “Wow. They really GET this.” That’s what makes all of this worth it.

4. Are you contributing a piece? If so, what’s it like?
Last year I showcased some of my photography in the show – still images I had done using Lego toys to recreate scenes from my favorite films. Titles like The Honeymoon Killers, Creepshow and Extremities, starring Farrah Fawcett. I would build little dioramas re-enacting key scenes from the movies; for example, one of the Killbots chasing a victim from Chopping Mall. Those were a lot of fun to make and I think everyone got a big kick out of them. This year I thought I would do something totally different. I’m doing a painting where I pay tribute to a scene from Mac and Me. This is a film that absolutely epitomizes EXPLOITATION. It’s an incredibly shameless E.T. rip-off that masquerades itself as a “family film” when it fact it is one huge, feature-length promotion for McDonald’s and Coke. It also earns extra sleazy points for deliberately vying for audience sympathy by having the main character in a wheelchair. This is text book exploitation filmmaking at work and I love every second of it.

5. In your press release for the show, you say: “Is there one particular film out there that you revisit on a regular basis? A movie you have seen at least a dozen to a hundred times?” So, what’s your pick, and why?
I have a few old reliables that I visit regularly, but I would have to say that I revisit Bob Clark’s Black Christmas the most. I love every single frame. From the truly unsettling soundscapes by Carl Zittrer and creative camerawork to the unique and often hilarious characters. It has such an unsettling mix of different moods that it’s always an interesting viewing experience. I’m so in love with the characters in this film. Every single time I watch it, I think to myself, “My God, I hope they make it this time.”

6. Obviously you’re a hardcore horror fan, so what’s the geekiest horror fanboy thing you’ve ever done?
Ugh. Lots. I have a bad habit of reaching out to my favorite actors and actresses, writing them fan letters and stuff. I just can’t help it. Luckily, the people I’ve contacted have been very sweet. Last year I sent my framed Lego Honeymoon Killers piece to director John Waters via his gallery in NYC. I knew he was a fan of the film as well and figured he might get a laugh out of it. He sent me a nice postcard, so that was a neat experience. His early films with Divine were an enormous inspiration on me and my work, so it was important to me to give something back. That’s probably the most fanboy-ish thing I do – this weird compulsion to try and win over all these people I love so that I can somehow/maybe/possibly become their buddy.

7. Do you have plans for We Are Going to Eat You beyond the exhibit?
Depending on how this show goes, perhaps doing a third one might be worth it. It would be amazing if this idea took off and other fellow movie maniacs around the country would start their own cult film art showings. Maybe it could turn into a craze. People could do them in their garages.
I think film is a huge part of our modern language so it is always exciting and fascinating to see how people interpret these movies and add a new spin to them. I love seeing how an artist can take an idea sparked by a filmmaker – perhaps, a briefly-seen character or a throwaway scene that lasted all of five seconds – and see them identified, redefined and made into something completely new and original. It’s really quite genius. Plus, it is truly a compliment to the films and to the people who made them. It becomes sort of the ultimate and most sincere fan letter.

And if you’re not able to make it to the show, you can see the pieces on Flickr, here.