Welcome to the Dark Artists Guild DAG is the acronym for Dark Artists Guild.
Currently at this time we are not accepting any new applications for membership. We will reopen to new members on Jan 1, 2010. Thank you for your understanding. | Dark Artists Guild Welcomes Artists - Illustrators - Mixed Media Artists - Sculptors - We are excepting these genres... We do not accept... Pornographic Images/Material and Realistic Depictions of Death: |
What is Dark Art?
Primarily a product of the 20th Century, dark art is an art style defined as that being "dark" or unsettling in nature. Called and classified under many names such as gothic, horror, metaphysical, nightmarish, and disturbing, it is actually a culmination of techniques and styles. It has been presented in many forms by many artists, illustrators and film-makers. It continues to grow in popularity as a part of the horror genre and gothic, music and publishing culture. Today, it is a part of our mainstream culture, crossing over into multiple mediums including advertising, television, film, and marketing. While it has roots in horror, it has been presented in collage, surrealism, abstract, motion graphics, grunge, expressionism, and largely digital art. ~ Wikipedia
Dark art is a form of expression that uses a more dangerous visual vocabulary than “regular” art. Dark art explores the beauty of the scarier aspects of life. Dark art transgresses. Dark art celebrates the taboo. ~ Chad Savage
Dark art, through technique, medium and subject matter addresses themes such as decay, taboo, cultural fears, mental illness, deformity, "dark nights of the soul", those things that stay hidden within society or nature, emotions and habits humans are not likely to admit to or talk about. Dark Art seeks to take these things and impress a message through shock, through beauty in the "perceived" ugly, within realism.
While "other" artists are busy covering up reality with flowers, sunlight and fairies, Dark Artists seek to express things by showing how they really are... with all the wrinkles and imperfections, faults and sins.
Dark Art goes beyond it's perceived cliché of figures dressed in black with dark circles under their eyes, or vampires. Dark Art reaches into the soul using various means of destruction, death, violence, the haunting, dirt, fears and the grimy-- aspects that are just as important part of life as flowers and sunshine, but overwhelmingly rejected by many as having little value. Dark Artists see what is in the dark; to them it has more value because of the secrets and treasures hidden there. Either the Dark Artist shows you those things, or makes you look... just like that a car accident did on your way to work!!