Art Gallery of Sudbury opens Rob Sacchetto’s Faces of Decay

Article content

Just in time for Halloween: The Art Gallery of Sudbury has opened an exhibition of portraits of zombies and imaginary depictions of monster heads.

Article content

Faces of Decay by Sudbury-based visual artist Rob Sacchetto runs until at the gallery’s interim space at 174 Elgin S. in downtown Sudbury.

Fans can meet Sacchetto on Oct. 26 at the gallery from 1 to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be provided.

“Our idea for the exhibition initially was to focus in on Rob Sacchetto’s beautiful black-and-white line drawings, including landscapes and portraits, because Rob’s such a fantastic draughtsman,” Demetra Christakos, the director and curator of the Art Gallery of Sudbury, said in a release.

“But once we had the privilege of dipping into his archives of original works, his figurations of the heads of the undead were too compelling,” Christakos said. “His daily drawing practice and consistent exploration and remodelling of the monstrous head is artistically interesting.

Article content

“These works of the imagination evoke attempts by early Renaissance artists to explore the intricacies of the anatomical form under clandestine circumstances.”

Sacchetto is a veteran artist with a 25-year freelance career, known widely for his daily practice of producing Zombie portraits, which now number in the thousands, and for his many appearances at comic and horror conventions every year.

This exhibition features selections of original paintings and drawings from two of the artist’s prolific portrait series, Heads of the Living Dead and Celebrity Zombie Portraits, as well as from his landscape series, Gothic Nature Art.

“Sacchetto’s work takes you on an exploration into the beauty of decay,” the gallery said in the release.

Article content

His licensed artwork can be seen internationally. His ability to “zombify” anything led to the publication of two books, The Zombie Handbook: How to Identify the Living Dead and Survive the Coming Zombie Apocalypse and Zombiewood: The Celebrity Dead Exposed.

First re-imagined by George Romero’s horror film, Night of the Living Dead, in 1968, it was the Zombies of the post-apocalyptic comic book series and 11 seasons of the television series, The Walking Dead (2010-2022), that have most recently captured contemporary imagination.

“This seasonal exhibition includes frightening images drawn from the horror comic genre,” the release said. “Parents are invited to preview the exhibition first. Not intended for young children or unaccompanied minors.”

The exhibition continues until Saturday, Nov. 16.

Admission is free; however, donations are accepted. The Art Gallery of Sudbury is temporarily located at 174 Elgin St. The gallery’s gift shop/boutique is located next door at 172 Elgin St.

The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, go to www.artsudbury.org, or call 705-921-6666.

Sud.editorial@sunmedia.ca

X: @SudburyStar

Article content