Resident Evil

A peek at a dinner party thrown at Evil Prints for the unveiling of the second panel of Tom Huck’s epic woodcut triptych, The Transformation of Brandy Baghead.

By Stefene Russell  

Brandy Baghead has been out of the bag for a year or so now. Tom Huck’s newest woodcut triptych, The Transformation of Brandy Baghead (the first part of what will eventually be a series of 14 extra-large-scale prints titled Booger Stew), made its first showing at Baer Ridgway Exhibitions in San Francisco in April 2009. Then, in August, it was shown by the Saint Louis Art Museum as part of "Tom Huck and The Rebellious Tradition in Printmaking," alongside work by artists who inspired Mr. Huck’s printmaking, including Albrecht Dürer, Hans Burgkmair, William Hogarth, George Cruikshank, James Ensor, Max Beckmann, and José Guadalupe Posada.

Part of the catalyst for that museum show was a party thrown in February 2009 by Susan Barrett of RKL Consulting, along with gallerists Jeff Hartz and Philip Slein (who both represent Huck). Held at Evil Prints Studio on Vandeventer, it celebrated the completion of the center panel of “Brandy Baghead,” which may seem like an awful lot of hubbub for one print—but only if you are not acquainted with Mr. Huck’s work. His woodblocks are huge, and as detailed and painstakingly carved as anything Dürer ever did. The process of carving takes years (the blocks for Brandy Baghead were carved between 2005 and 2009) so it may be close to 2019 before Mr. Huck completes this new series.

As for Brandy Baghead, she was inspired by something very early–21st century: reality TV. When Anne, Mr. Huck’s wife, was home pregnant, the Hucks spent a lot of time watching TV. The years 2004 and 2005 marked the peak of the most depraved subgenre of an already depraved form of entertainment: the plastic surgery reality show. Brandy’s backstory is somewhat modeled on The Swan, though Mr. Huck decided a chicken was a far more powerful metaphor. Panel one is Brandy being carried through the streets as Queen of the Vegetable Festival; the center print is a baroque, frenetic, Dürer–does–Mad Magazine fantasia depicting the surgery itself, with a team of surgeons (one wearing a pair of goggles made from a View-Master) breaking, carving, hacking, and sewing her up with catgut. The right-hand panel is Brandy transformed into chicken woman with beak, feathers, and legs covered in goosepimply poultry skin, performing on an ice-skating reality TV contest, “Skating with the Scars.” It is by turns funny, gorgeous, grotesque, and painstakingly rendered, a combination of traits that have landed Mr. Huck’s work in private collections, as well as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Fogg Art Museum, the New York Public Library, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, and our own art museum.

Though there’s always something interesting to look at on the walls and shelves at Evil Prints (the Bettie Page memorial powder room was a definite topic of conversation), Ms. Barrett dressed up the space for a proper dinner party, bringing in a long, narrow dining table, setting it with black linens and arrangements of lilies and succulents by florist Scott Hepper (scotthepper.com). The food, catered by LaChef, was simple and elegant (and, we should add on Brandy’s behalf, included a bit of chicken). The meal was accompanied by a series of fine wines chosen by sommelier Kevin Brennan, of Brennan’s in the Central West End. Before sitting down to dinner, however, the guests—about three dozen artists, curators, collectors, writers, architects, and arts administrators—assembled in the studio to hear Tom Huck explain his printmaking process, and then watched Mr. Huck, with the help of assistants Aaron Lovell and Becca Yelich, ink up the press and make a fresh print of Brandy Baghead.

“It was a really interesting salon-type event,” Slein says. “And it was a really great evening to spend with an artist in his studio. It was great to actually be able to participate, and see the pulling of a print, and learn how woodcuts are made, and to experience it there in his studio, which is an interesting, exciting place. So we were treated to a lecture by Tom Huck, then showed the technical process of inking up the block, the printing of the block, the sending the block through the rollers of his press—which is one of the largest presses in the country to produce this kind of work.”

Mr. Slein goes on to explain that while Tom Huck’s press is made by the same craftsman who builds Peter Marcus’ (petermarcusprints.com) large-scale presses, he “had it tricked out and customized. Like the knob you would use to pull the lever, on most of the other presses, it’s hard plastic. Tom’s is like a silver skull with LED lights that flash. It’s like these low-rider cars, it’s one of those presses, but it’s been souped up.”

The new print was definitely a topic of conversation that night, including a conversation somewhere at that long, skinny table that resulted in the purchase of The Transformation of Brandy Baghead, which was then donated to the Saint Louis Art Museum—the genesis of last year’s show, which closed in November. The party itself was confined to one winter evening, but its effects continue to resonate. That’s an outcome that any host would be glad to claim, and perhaps one that wouldn’t have occurred without a heroic level of attention to detail, worthy of the work of art the party celebrated. Huck’s friend and fellow artist, Josh Rowan, shot the party as it unfolded, from cocktail hour to the pulling of the print.  

The Details 

Hosts

Printmaker Tom Huck, Susan Barrett of RJK Consulting, gallerists Jeff Hartz and Philip Slein

Guests

Andrew Walker

Chris Poehler

Bridget Melloy

David Bonetti

Deb Peterson

Deborah Jaegers

Dorte Probstein

Eric Lutz

Jeff Hartz

Susan Barrett

Jasmin Aber

Malcom Gay

Juan Chavez

Laura Fried

Margaret McDonald

Paul Ha

Eva Lundsager

Ken Kranzberg

Nancy Kranzberg

Mary Ann Srenco

Andrew Srenco

Charlotte Eyerman

David Schlafly

Francesca Consagra

Matt Strauss

Florist

Scott Hepper

Catering

LaChef and Co.

Sommelier

Kevin Brennan, Brennan’s 

Menu 

Passed Hors d'Oeuvres

Beef Tenderloin on Truffle Whipped Potatoes in Phyllo Cup

Red Pepper Jelly Brie on Edible Spoon

Caesar Salad Spring Rolls with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

First Course

Ruby Pear and Gorgonzola Salad With Spiced Wine Dressing and Crispy Lavosh

Entrée

Duo Plate of Pine-Nut–Crusted Salmon and Grilled Pesto Chicken With Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade

Green Bean and Scallion Bundles With Dill Chardonnay Butter

Lemon Basil Capellini Nest

Dessert

White Russian Milkshake With Chocolate Truffle Lollipop