After it was announced that the Dark Art Emporium would be vacating its space inside The 4th Horseman pizzeria and into a new space in the East Village Arts District, time has sped by and the entire crew behind both projects have moved quickly as DAE is officially open for business in is new home.
‘New era for the Dark Art Emporium:’ Bring on the low-brow, pop surrealism, and the macabre
“In all honesty, we’re pretty stoked,” said co-owner and Long Beach artist Jeremy Cross back in February. “It’s going to an entirely new 4th Horseman for Long Beach as well as new era for the Dark Art Emporium.”
That new era means its third location and a deviation away from its long-loved home inside The 4th Horseman pizzeria on 4th Street between Pine and Pacific Avenues.
“We’re very excited to return to our roots in the East Village Arts District,” Schott said, noting the gallery’s previous home at the southeast corner of 3rd Street and Elm Avenue. “This is the street we wanted to be on since the inception of the Emporium eight years ago—and, to be honest, we just look forward to continuing to show our brand of low brow, pop surrealism and dark art to Long Beach.”
And that choice of art has largely led to its success, both as a regional space to visit—it is not uncommon to find drifters from all over SoCal and even the country come to visit the gallery—but also a space for artists to actually sell art: Dark Art Emporium’s curated exhibits have continually sold pieces for the artists being show.
Dark Art Emporium is nearing a decade of providing Long Beach with dark, incredible art.
Back when the Dark Art Emporium opened in 2016, Schott had an opening party like no other: Someone obsessed with stapling himself was there to, well, staple himself, while a literal sword swallower joined in as one mingled the newly minted gallery that used opened at the southeast corner of 3rd Street and Elm Avenue.
Following that, Schott—ever the lover of the weird—hosted sold-out taxidermy, figure painting lessons, sadly discontinued podcasts sessions, rotating group art shows, music nights like the ones that used to happen at the now-defunct Prospector, movie nights that screen incredible oddities like “Poultrygeist: Night of Chicken Dead” and “Elves” (that reflect their current Freak Flix every third Wednesday at the Horseman)…
In other words, Schott was and remains all in when it comes to investing his dark arts into the Long Beach community—and he firmly believes we need it.
“‘I should do that here,’ is what I thought—I’m sick and tired of driving to Hollywood and Burbank to catch all that stuff I love,” Schott said to me back in 2016. “There’s nothing like it in Long Beach and Long Beach is the perfect place for it.”
In its third iteration, he’s proven himself quite right.
The new Dark Art Emporium is located at 427 E. 1st St.
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