Artspeak Radio with Ezra October, Haunter Darren, and Fountain City Comedy Festival

Artspeak Radio, Wednesday, October 12, 2022, noon – 1pm CST, 90.1fm KKFI Kansas City Community Radio, streaming live www.kkfi.org

Producer/host Maria Vasquez Boyd welcomes designer/artist Ezra October, Haunter Darren owner of the Darkwood House Gallery, Carlos Champon founder of Fountain City Comedy Festival.

EZRA OCTOBER ETHETTON -I am a tailor and fantastical costume designer, mixing my love for historical clothing and fantasy costumes, as well as subcultures in fashion.I firmly believe that when we put on a good outfit or costume, we can become someone we never were before; a powerful ruler, an ancient spirit, a beautiful deity, or even a simple milkmaid.
​ As a gender non-conforming trans man, I seek to make clothing genderless. No more unnecessary binary sizing, just comfortable, fashionable clothing for humanity. Includes clothing made of natural fibers meant to be worn, loved, passed on, and biodegrade when their life is over.

www.ezraoctober.com
My studio and shop is located inside The Darkwood House Gallery 10918 E. Winner Rd. Independence, MO

HAUNTER DARREN – A most hearty welcome to those of you whose tastes in art lean toward the bizarre . . .
Darkwood House is a curated space for skilled figurative artists with a shared fascination for dark, macabre, surreal and imaginative themes. By focusing exclusively on those themes, from both established and new, emerging artists, we are ushering the Dark Art movement into the heartland.  We are passionate about raising the profiles of Dark Artists and craftspeople in order to give them the unique attention they deserve and to provide them with a unique setting to display their work. Darkwood House consists of a dark art gallery, event space, oddities and curiosities shop and the fashion boutique Ezra October.

We are actively seeking provocative artists that share our dark vision, but our tastes are not limited to the macabre.  Darkwood House seeks to work with all manner of fringe, experimental, protest and performance artists that have been unable to find a place to for their work.  Additionally, Darkwood House is proud to showcase artists in the LGBTQ+ community and give hope and a safe, welcoming sanctuary to those that are having a difficult time embracing who they are in environments that aren’t necessarily healthy.  What is dark art? One of the most common questions we get at the gallery, besides “Does that bite?” is, “What is dark art?” And we know there is a tendency among some prospective artists to think that their art isn’t particularly dark enough to fit in at the gallery. The Dark Art Movement in the art world includes surrealist art, protest, critical, fringe, and experimental works. Most often they appear disturbing or frightening, sometimes even gruesome in nature. Visually, they may be composed of scenes where black predominates over all colors. While those works would be quite well suited in Darkwood House the term is quite subjective. What is dark to you may be quite normal to us.

The physical characteristics of a painting that are mostly dominated by shades of black makes them appear, obviously, to be “dark.” But, as you’ll see at the gallery, some of our most disturbing works are quite bright and colorful. It is the subject matter, most often having to do with death, gore, and violence, that defines it as being a work of dark art.
But still there can be paintings, photographs and sculptures created to show that darkness can also have a beautiful and aesthetic side. When we say that we have a dark art gallery, we are speaking in terms of art that is not usually on display in the mainstream, traditional art galleries. Darkwood House is unlike any other gallery in the area, perhaps anywhere.  Our team of resident artists, craftspeople, instructors and advocates are eager to bid you welcome.
Darkwood House is located at 10918 E. Winner Rd. Independence, MO 816.642.2796
www.darkwoodhouse.com

CARLOS CHAMON, founder/board member Fountain City Comedy Festival- Fountain City’s Newest Festival (Oct. 13 – 15) This October, 50 of the country’s funniest comics will perform in the inaugural Fountain City Comedy Festival. Come and see why the Metro has one of the best up and coming comedy and arts scenes in the country. This October, Comedians you’ve seen on HBO, Netflix, and Comedy Central will perform 20+ shows over four days. This festival will showcase Kansas City’s incredibly diverse and talented comedy scene at venues across the metro in both Kansas and Missouri. From Strawberry Hill to the Crossroads and River Market, the Fountain City comedy festival will be bringing the city together with the best comedians at some of the coolest venues. Fountain City Comedy Festival will take place at various venues in Kansas City from Oct 13 – 15, 2022.
Kenny DeForest, a Kansas City favorite returns to open the festival on Thursday, Oct. 13 at the Bird Comedy Theater in the Crossroads. Kenny is a Springfield native currently living in New York, that has been featured on The Comedy Central. Following him on Friday, Oct. 14 will be, Niles Abston (FX, Comedy Central, Vulture’s Comedians You Should Know) and Dina Hashem (Comedy Central, Conan, Roast Battle). Closing out the festival on Saturday, Oct. 15 is River Butcher. River is a Los Angeles-based standup comic, actor, and writer. His first half-hour special “A Different Kind of Dude” (released through Comedy Central) was called “a masterclass in culture war commentary” by Esquire.com. He has been featured on Conan, Comedy Central, Ellen, and HBO. Filling out the rest of the performances are 50 of the brightest up and coming comedians from across the country and Kansas City. This is going to be one of the funniest weekends in KC history.
www.fountaincitycomedyfest.com

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