Altars of Madness: Death Metal Meets Contemporary Art in Luxembourg and Poitiers

The exhibition 'Altars of Madness' at Casino Luxembourg (May 18 – September 15, 2013) and Confort moderne in Poitiers (September 28 – December 15, 2013) explores the influence of extreme metal subgenres—grindcore, death-metal, black-metal—on contemporary visual art. Curated by artist Damien Deroubaix and critic Jérôme Lefèvre, the show originated from the fanzine 'C.S. (Conservative Shithead)', which pairs visual artists with metal musicians. Deroubaix collaborated with Mick Harris (Napalm Death) and Jeff Walker (Carcass); Elodie Lesourd with Fenriz (Darkthrone) and Hunter Hunt-Hendrix (Liturgy); Steven Shearer with Marquis Marky (Coroner). The exhibition features works by Deroubaix, Lesourd, Shearer, Banks Violette, Mark Titchner, Matthew Barney, Harmony Korine, and musicians-turned-artists like Larry Carroll (Slayer visuals), Gee Vaucher (Crass), and Nicholas Bullen (Napalm Death). Lesourd's painting 'Vargsmål' (2007) reproduces a Banks Violette installation itself based on a Burzum album cover. The show's title references Morbid Angel's debut album. The exhibition transposes the aesthetic and political codes of radical metal into a contemporary art context.