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Letter to the editor

Behold a Pale Horse: Gallery changes name, but not vibe

The owner says the area is hungry for affordable art, and he's out to satisfy.

By SHARON KENNEDY WYNNE, Times Staff Writer
Published January 16, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG 

Blackout Creations, an oasis of Ybor-style cool in downtown St. Petersburg, has had an ownership shake-up, but art-loving hipsters will be happy to hear the gallery will keep the same aesthetic when it acquires its new name, Pale Horse.

The owners, graphic designer Chris Parks and tattoo artist Scott Lukacs, have parted ways, but Parks is already making plans for a March 15 party called "The Second Coming." Lukacs, meanwhile, who has fine-arts training that he applies to elaborate tattoos, is doing work through lukacsarts.com in Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Parks, 29, kept the location at 19 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. S in downtown St. Petersburg and renamed it Pale Horse Graphic Design and Gallery, where he will continue to operate his studio and hold art happenings several times a year, which Blackout Creations mastered to great success.

Parks, a former Christian school student, came up with a biblical theme - the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - for the March show, which will be sponsored by Scion and Red Bull. Tampa artist Brandon Dunlap helped round up more than 20 local and national artists who will submit their takes on the theme from the book of Revelation. Parks hopes to have a book of the collection published.

"We've been getting overwhelming response from the community," Parks said.

It's not often you see 20-somethings mobbing an art reception, but Blackout managed to pull it off with affordable art at free shows such as last fall's "Big Trouble in Little St. Pete." It drew loads of fans for the anime-tinged work, as well as the punk rock pumping out of the gallery's speakers.

"I think there is a hunger for it," Parks said. "There's a lot of potential and we are trying to keep it going in St. Pete with good art shows."

Down the road, Parks would like to see his space as an artists' collective for graphic designers, but with gallery shows every few months where art is sold, as well as T-shirts, prints and even toys.

"It's cool to do something like that for the community, but for myself I get to meet a lot of artists and get a lot of connections and publicity," Parks said. "I see it as my marketing budget."

[Last modified January 15, 2008, 23:01:33]