They may only come out at night for Greg Simkins, but they now are on show to the public during the day – we are talking about the nightmarish creatures which have been haunting the artist for years during his periods of nocturnal sketching.
From midnight musings in a sketchbook to fully-fledged artworks, Simkins – who began his public artistic life with a spray can as Craola – has finally captured on canvas those beings that inhabit the dark places in his mind. His sometimes cartoonish style belies the sinister activity he portrays, and as well as representing his demons the Stop Haunting Me series is a cathartic exercise.
Simkins describes his art as “my sword to cut down the things that haunt me as they wake me from sleep”, and he’s been swinging that weapon across the canvas in various ways, from the aforementioned cartoon style to densely-packed tattoo-like designs, and with some fantasy pseudo-realistic pieces among his most powerful and beautiful. The Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles is the cage holding Simkins’ demons, until 4th May.
