I had to drop off some cards for Barbara Hartley at City Arts Factory (29 S Orange Ave, Orlando, FL). The place according to the website is usually closed on Monday but on this Indigenous People’s Day it was open because artists were dropping off their work for the Day of the Dead show happening in October.
While I was chatting with Tr3 Mark Harris at the front desk, Paul Joachim walked in. Paul sculpts life sized chocolate sculptures. Paul had dropped off a life sized Marilyn Monroe zombie sculpture and he wanted to touch up he paint job. The sign next to her read, “Do not touch. Do not eat.” Which is very ironic since there were plenty of open bite wounds causing her to bleed red syrup. An exposed bone was visible on her left shin. Denna Beena told Paul that every guy who viewed the sculpture thought she might be having her period. Paul had considered making a small card to put under her dress that said,Hard Rock “You should be ashamed of yourself.” He thought better of it.
Paul had done a clean sculpt of Marilyn and then he added the gouges, blood and pasty purple skin tone. When he was working on her face he had to walk a fine line, making her look like Marilyn but dead. A huge bite out of her right cheek exposed her jaw bone and she was missing some teeth. There was an amazing synergy between Marilyn’s mouth and Andrew Spear‘s mural behind her. Both pieces of art treated the female sumptuous lips and teeth with loving detail.
Paul told me that the drive to City Arts Factory with the sculpture in the back of the truck was harrowing. Orlando’s cobble stone streets sent her dancing and shimmying in the back of the truck, Thankfully she didn’t topple over. After this show , Paul hopes that Hard Rock Cafe might inherit Marilyn for next year’s Halloween season. Halloween Horror Nights might be another home for her. I was surprised to find out that chocolate keeps rather well. It gets harder with age.
Mark Your Calendar! CityArts Dia de los Muertos and Monster Factory Exhibit is opening tonight, October 16th 6-11pm. Phantasmagoria will be there to entertain and amaze and there will be a Day of the Dead Parade with larger than life sized skeletons. The show will remain up through November 14th.