The Halloween Horrors of the Art World

Introducing Rakewell, Apollo’s wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art and museum stories. Follow @Rakewelltweets.

With All Hallows almost upon us, Rakewell has been scouting out skeletons in the art-world closet. Over in New York, the SoHo branch of Damien Hirst’s Other Criteria shop will be distributing Cadbury’s sweets to visitors on Halloween. Chocolate-loving readers may recall that Cadbury’s was forced to cease imports to the States last year under orders from Hershey, who own the US rights to the British firm’s branding. Undeterred, the rebellious Other Criteria staff have apparently ‘smuggled’ 20lbs of chocs over to the Big Apple, giving the finger to The Man. Trick or Treat? The same question, you might have noticed, is often asked of Damo’s art…

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Last week, the Rake spread the news of Vogue magazine’s unimpeachable guide to creating art inspired Halloween costumes. But it turns out that plenty of other outlets had beaten them to it in previous years – from Buzzfeed to the Smithsonian magazine. And in fact, Vogue’s tips were surely bettered last year by the Huffington Post’s hair-raising suggestion of turning up to your Halloween bash dressed as a ‘Naked Jeff Koons’. To perfect your Made in Heaven–era Koons look, the blogpost advises you acquire ‘A nude body suit. Fake muscles. Perhaps a strategically placed balloon dog’. Whatever you do, should you be so tempted, do not let Eddie Peake get wind of it.

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Finally, strange goings on in Milwaukee, where according to Fox News, a 3 year-old boy has decided to celebrate Halloween by dressing himself up as ‘Calatrava’. While the Spanish architect may not seem the natural choice to scare the neighbours, residents of Valencia are surely nodding in approval. Because if one thing’s for sure, Santiago Calatrava will face a petrifying reception should he choose to return to his hometown. That opera house disaster is not going to be forgotten any time soon…

Got a story for Rakewell? Email rakewell@apollomag.com.