Buff Monster exhibition fuses fantasy and horror

Framed by a pink sky with tufts of dark pink clouds, a pink ice cream scoop with a single eye, a cone for a lower body and gray shoes stands aghast. Dark pink blood gushes from its head as a flying green creature with pink wings sinks its teeth into what could be seen as the cyclops-ice-cream-scoop’s head. Behind these two figures, a smaller flying creature drips with the remains of its latest victim who stands nearby with a white spot at the top of his head. A third figure sits on a giant scoop of ice cream and screams as another winged creature heads gleefully toward him.

Though it sounds like a scene out of a fantastical horror movie or some disturbed little kid’s mind, this scene actually plays out as an acrylic work on wood. “Birth of a Zombie,” — one of many works in artist Buff Monster’s current show, Legend of the Pink Cherry -— epitomizes the artist’s playful-yet-sinister style.

A seasoned artist who started placing posters around the streets of Los Angeles, Buff Monster’s acrylic-on-wood pieces can cause viewers to either cringe or laugh. The USC alumnus’ current show at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City allows visitors to take a journey in a cotton-candy-colored world of violence, danger and adorable ice-cream creatures that could make almost any art lover melt.

The bottom floor of the show continues with the pattern of gore and war-like scenes in a group of pieces that displays not only Buff Monster’s artistic dexterity, but also his complex creativity in rendering fantastical, vivid scenes. Inspired by Renaissance paintings, the works display the artist’s love of the color pink and ability to contrast cutesy creatures and precarious situations.

“The Triumph of Death” shows another poor creature running and screaming while his dead companion lies near him. A skeletal figure armed with arrows navigates an evil flying fiend up above. The piece showcases one very important facet of Buff Monster’s work — even when the composition is nearly entirely pink, there is variety. The landscape in the background of this piece features more ice cream scoops and even a cherry: Different shades of pink create complexity and three-dimensionality. Even the smallest of scoops possess their own texture.

Most of the pieces depict war-like, fantastical scenes, but “The Demon Tamer” simply shows a little cone figure petting a winged evil baby. The portrait has a Renaissance feel, with its simple rendering of a figure filling the whole frame. It resembles the image of any Renaissance man that might have asked to have his figure painted for his wall — except this one is dripping pink ice cream.

No matter the subject matter, all the pieces share Buff Monster’s attention to detail and flawless painting skills. The show marks the artist’s first time working with airbrush, and the technique effectively gives the pieces a sheen that makes them pop even more.

The exhibition continues upstairs in a slightly different vein, featuring a group of five-inch by seven-inch paintings Buff Monster collectively titled “The Melty Misfits.” The 60 works act as trading cards and came to fruition because of Buff Monster’s love for Garbage Pail Kid cards.

Impressively, each card contains the same amount of attention as the artist’s larger works. The pink color scheme continues and the same ice cream creatures take on a variety of emotions. The upstairs portion also includes studies of a selection of Buff Monster’s pieces to give the viewer a sneak peek at the artist’s creative process.

Equal parts fun, horror, fantasy and something uncategorizable and uniquely Buff Monster, the pieces in Legend of the Pink Cherry make a case for both the artist’s talent and the possibilities for art-making. Whether on a wood canvas or the small dimensions of a trading card, the artist’s works blend familiar scenes in art history with a unique sense of humor. Hopefully, no scoops of ice cream were hurt in the process.