Gallery 1988 — purveyors of all things pop culture — is hosting a gathering full of gallows humor and shadowy mayhem. The Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, is the subject of the California gallery’s latest exhibit, which features over 100 artists paying tribute to one of cinema’s most iconic directors. Suspense & Gallows Humor: A Tribute to the All-Time Greatest focuses on the pioneering filmmaker’s psychological thrillers and twisted tales of terror — including Psycho, North by Northwest, The Birds, and more.
Appropriately, the exhibit opens at Gallery 1988 Venice in Santa Monica on Friday, April 13 (from 7-10pm). If you survive the evening (this is Hitchcock we’re talking about) you can revisit the show, which remains on display until May 5.
We recently caught up with one of the artists in the exhibit, monster maven Gary Pullin. The longtime Rue Morgue magazine art director/current art columnist and award-winning illustrator shared more information about his work, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. “Psycho is a very stylish, simplistic horror film that is still to this day, a terrifying experience. I wanted to create a simple, iconic image that portrayed all of that,” he said of his creepy, ocular creation. “Hitchcock’s camera acts as a voyeur throughout the film and that’s where the idea to use Janet Leigh’s eye came from. The shower drain becomes her iris and the spiral of blood is a metaphor for Norman’s decent into madness.” Pullin also advised that the color palette of his minimal, but intense, illustration was inspired by Psycho’s memorable knife and the 1960s. “When I think of Psycho, I also think of a large kitchen knife, which in turn makes me think of what the color palette of a kitchen might be in the ’60s. I used turquoise, a reddish orange and off-white to represent the time period when the film was made.” Finally he adds, “Hitchcock was also famous for his small cameos so if you look closely, he may reveal himself.”
Gallery 1988 was kind enough to provide a preview of the exhibit — including Pullin’s work — which we’ve shared with you past the break. Indulge your inner suspense maestro in the gallery below, and let the artists know what you think in the comments section.
Image credit: Gary Pullin
Image credit: Cuyler Smith
Image credit: Veronica Fish
Image credit: Joshua Budich
Image credit: Emma Geary
Image credit: Scott Belcastro
Image credit: Matt Taylor
Image credit: Jayson Weidel
Image credit: Jason Liwag