I tried to attend the opening of the Neckface “Cannibal Carnival” gallery party last weekend but because I didn’t get there early enough, I decided not to go. I actually arrived to the location in WEHO, but got only as close as the door.  First of all there were about five million people there and it was nearly impossible to get in.  Then when I nearly got in, I could feel a disgusting heat rushing out the opening of the door.  It felt like a sauna filled with sweaty, dirty people rubbing elbows and due to my phobia of germs, I wasn’t going to have it.  Even free booze isn’t incentive enough to want to be there.  But it’s okay.  Luckily Transworld was there and are sharing a nice slide show of the event.   Read the press release below for more info just in case you’re not familiar with the young skateboarding tyrant known as .

NECKFACE
“CANNIBAL CARNIVAL”
NEW IMAGE ART GALLERY
7908 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
www.newimageartgallery.com

Opening Reception Aug.16th, 7-10pm
Show runs Aug. 16th – Sept. 20, 2008

Neckface is back in L.A. to stir up some trouble. This time, his third solo show at New Image Art, “Cannibal Carnival,” is all about taking things out of context to create some chaos. The watercolors featured in the show explore good things gone bad, subjects that become frightening when taken away from familiar settings. “When you see a clown at a circus its funny,” says the artist, “but if you saw the same clown from the circus in an alleyway at midnight it wouldn’t be funny at all.” The original integrity of the medium is also twisted; a method which the artist normally associates with wholesome and effeminate images, Neckface uses watercolors and gouache to depict morbid and jarring scenes.

Also featured in the show is a set-up familiar to Neckface but certainly not for an intimate gallery space. At the opening, friends of the artist and professional skaters Sammy Baca and Lizard King will be skating in a caged off mini-ramp filled with objects they encounter every day: knives, spray paint, and booze of course. “They are both satanic,” Neckface says. “Sammy once carved Satan into Lizard King’s chest with a knife.” With “Cannibal Carnival,”

Neckface offers the public a rare glimpse of his curious existence–parts of his life and mind that cannot be merely spray painted on the streets of New York. “I’m more of a trouble maker skateboarder who makes stuff.”

Were Gallery parties hot a decade ago as they are now?  I’m not sure.  Maybe it’s because I wasn’t invited to them a decade ago but now they seem to be everywhere.  Some of you not from a big city may be thinking, “Why the hell would I want to hang out with a bunch of artsy fartsys?”  Let me tell you why.

Where would most kids hang out at night if not for Art Gallery parties?  Where else would they be able to drink with their favorite skaters, look cool images, and meet hot drunk chicks?  Have I sold you yet?  Good because Altamont in affiliation with Vans shoes is throwing a nice little party featuring Neckface at the New Image Gallery in Santa Monica on August 16th from 7PM to 10pm.

Of course these art parties wouldn’t have worked a decade ago because they have evolved into something cool and fun so if you’re in the area, you should check it out.  Especially since Altamont is co-hosting.