Clint Catalyst

crept up on me like a shadow.

One moment I was in Iowa working with my comrades Dustin and Brian of Novice Industries; the next, rushing to hair and make-up with my pal Aldo o’ the Vento.

Aldo volunteered to assist me with Door Duty for the event, a favor which proved much needed the moment we stepped from what was intended as a brief “helloing” sesh — as pictured below, kicking off the evening with the lovely Jenelle Rensch, graphic design whiz [ and incidentally the mastermind responsible for my CC logo in its final incarnation ], Mssr. Aldo Vento Himselfness, model and co-star in Matthew Mishory’s  biopic Delphinum: A Childhood Portrait of Derek Jarman : a beautiful, lyrical portrayal of the phenomenonicon, which is currently winding its way about the international film festival circuit. [ Not that you asked, though as I'm proud for all parties involved...let the record hereby note : the world premiere was 5 September 2009, at the Portobello Film Festival in London. ]

And oh, but oh : from one photograph to the moment that followed, how swift a shift in decorum. Namely, when AnnaLynne and Rachel McCord arrived at the venue, any semblance of order was tossed out the window like a stale copy of Us Weekly.

Image of AnnaLynne McCord and Clint Catalyst courtesy of
Deeply Shallow: One Man’s Adventure in L.A., by Albert Domasin

As rabid 90210 fanatics attempted to claw their way towards the living, breathing version of “Naomi” they recognized from their living rooms, I did my best to sneak the party of pretty-pretties into the inner sanctum : a seated area complete with Goodie Bags [ sponsored by Janome sewing machines, Fiji water, Tarina Tarantino jewelry, Amtrak, Josie Cotton, and Sebastian Hair Care Products ] that lived up to the name — incidentally, the precise locale where soon enough, leather metallic fabric † stitching nipped and tailored † silkscreened paintings † tricked-out hair with neon nets † make-up more surreal than real, and the spirit of unfettered creativity and unapologetic flamboyance would reign.

After all, why was everyone at the Social Club?

The MOST CORRECT runway debut of the retina-shattering, cardiac arrest-inducing atelier extraordinaire Jared Gold‘s latest collection : a collaborative effort with mega-watt visual artist Joshua Petker.

Above : Rockin’ some ‘tude, with pop legend Josie Cotton

A Brief : my first interaction with Mssr. Gold hearkens back to a bleak time in American history. We met shortly after his 2001 debut in Manhattan on September the 10th — an inauspicious moment for anyone to premiere clothing design, as it transpired mere hours before the atrocity known as 9/11.

Eight years have passed in the interim, and still: the creative outpourings of this inimitable virtuoso never cease to amaze.

That being said, it should come as no surprise that for his latest effort — a pairing of superpowers with painter Joshua Petker — my expectations were anything but low.

Pictured above : Petker with photographer Cyn Yen

Per chance you aren’t familiar : Mr. Petker’s art is most God, indeed. Over the span of the last few years, I’ve admired his murky-canvased beauties from afar — so when the opportunity presented itself this Christmas past, I was stoked to make his acquaintance and bear witness to a bit of the brainstorms and dark-clouded creative rumblings between these two masterminds.

All due respect, before I venture into the particulars of the Gold x Petker mash-up, please allow me to praise the work of this inventive gentleman . . .

Up first : two images pilfered from an interview in Fecal Face, a.k.a. the art-blog equivalent of masticating a corpus callosum.

“[Petker's] work is like that girl you know will destroy you but somehow you just can’t resist.” — Manuel Bello

Entitled “Hunting For Witches,” the painting [ above ] slaughters me, maing…SLAUGHTERS me!

And next, A portrait from Petker’s recent watercolor series [ 2009 ] :

So. Much. Gorgeous!

Fine art from a fine fellow : truly . . . truly.

At any rate, speaking of ‘fine’—there was no shortage of squealing over Twilight‘s hunkasaurus

Kellan Lutz

among the crowd at the Gold versus Petker extravaganza.

Full disclosure: I’ve never seen Twilight , nor have I read any of the books.  Said another way?  I wasn’t aware Who He Is—but not to worry…it’s not as if frenetic whispering girls and paparazzi flashbulbs going pop! were in short supply.

It would be remiss to make no mention of rock icon Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins:

pictured here with the Cute-As-They-Come  Kim Bruder

More images await “beneath the cut…”

However, since both the event and amount of photos collected –cough!STOLEN cough!–is of epic proportions, I’ve decided to divvy the lot up into three parts: Before The Madness (on which your gaze is fixed at this moment), Petker’s Paintings In Stiletto Pumps (the catwalk-stalking and crowd-gawking), and Dance.Music.Sweat.Romance (the after-party).

That being stated, Please! Click Away– for More Gore Gore Gorgeousness…

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