Paul Booth's Eternal Torture - a stunning collection in a stunning ...

Words & mages by Agnieszka HairesisThe H.R. Giger Museum is based in the beautifulmedieval town of Gruyeres, located on top of a hill atthe foot of Swiss Alps. The museum houses the artist’spaintings, sculptures, film and furniture designs, datingfrom early 1960’s to the present day. The top floor,which offers a stunning view of the town and surroundinglandscape, is home to Giger’s private art collection,which includes remarkable pieces from Andre Lassen,Burland Francois, Joe Coleman, Rudolf Stussi, MartinSwarz, Steven Leyba and others.The famous H.R. Giger Museum Bar is located inthe adjoining wing of the museum complex. Itsominous skeletal interior welcomes you into a newreality where biomechanical surrealism isn't so fantasticanymore. It’s as if you’ve walked into a Gigermasterpiece and are living in it for a moment.Just above the bar is a gallery that exhibits work ofother artists on a regular basis. Currently that artist islegendary tattooist, Paul Booth. The selection of work,10

called “Cruciatus Aeternum",documents his artistic evolutionover past 10 years in paint,mixed media and tattoo. It is atruly astonishing collection froma darkly creative mind.Wrote Booth of the show: “Inmy mid-teens, I spent countlesshours obsessed with trying tounderstand and emulateGiger's art. His books were oneof my greatest teachers—of thefew I had. I became lost in hisdark, surreal worlds, and notmany since have been able tocaptivate my imagination withsuch unrelenting force. In myown way, I have always tried todo the same, as that to me is acrucial element to artisticexpression. Giger is the reasonthat light and shade, dimensionand texture have always beena major focus for me in my art,whether it is on canvas, skin, orotherwise. Now I find myself,30 years later, honored to beshowing my art in Giger'smuseum. I’m suppose I choseto treat this show somewhat asa timeline because it representsa culmination in my life’swork thus far. While it closes acircle for me historically, itsimultaneously marks thebeginning of an entirely newera as I can only evolve fromthis experience. I can't evenimagine where I will go fromhere and I think that is whathas me most excited.”Even though I’d beenexposed to most of thedisplayed pieces somewhereonline, it felt like I was seeingthem for the very first time. Ilearned that you can’t trulyappreciate nor experience artuntil you’re facing it live.Nowadays, real masterpieces

are being killed daily by pixels and brutally flattened byour glossy screens. Unspoken emotions paintedbetween the brush strokes are being lost somewhere inthe electronic transition.No photography or video of highest quality will everdo justice to the color, detail and texture that springsout of Booth’s work. Every line, shape, and shade iscarefully planned—his attention to detail and use oflights and shadows is mind blowing. It’s a controversialand beautifully disturbing collection that changes theway you look at the surrounding world and of course, isnot displayed with out controversy. One of the paintings,“The Fountain of All Iniquity", was removed fromthe Museum due to political pressure from the CatholicChurch.The opening reception was a big success andturnout was pretty impressive. At some point the gallerybecame so crowded that it actually took a while beforeyou could get to see some pieces. It’s amazing when inone room you can hear so many different languages,even though you might not understand the commentsyou can still recognize the excitement and admiration invisitor’s voices.I felt truly blessed to witness Paul Booth, Master ofMacabre and Dark Arts, meeting H.R. Giger, Master ofBiomechanical Art and Fantastic Surrealism—whowouldn’t! To top it all off, we watched an actual ArtFusion Experiment being created in front of our eyes byfour extremely talented artists: Paul Booth, Filip Leu,Titine Leu and Sabine Gaffron, musically accompaniedby Ajja S.F. Leu! The event was incredible and Istrongly believe this was one of the most important artand tattoo related events of the past decade.The Booth exhibit is up through the month of MarchYou can learn more about it, and the H.R. Museum ingeneral, at http://www.hrgigermuseum.com.