Local artist making his mark
By REBEKAH BROOKS
News correspondent
BEVERLY -- Although he is fascinated with horror
movie actors such as Bela Lugosi and is drawn to
the animalistic nature in humans, Haig Demarjian
isn't a weird guy.
He's just an artist.
The Montserrat College of Art professor and
creator of the cover of a new book on Lugosi
doesn't consider himself or his art weird. And he
doesn't really care if others do.
"There's going to be people who get it and people
who don't," he says. "You get into this for the
game, and if it isn't a game then why do it?"
The new book, "Vampire Over London," is for
people who get it, he says.
It's targeted mostly at horror movie buffs and fans
of the late cult figure, he says.
The book examines the period of Lugosi's life in the
1950s when he performed the theater version of
Dracula on stages across England, hoping to
re-establish his fleeting career as an actor long after
the thrill of horror movies had died in America.
The opportunity for Demarjian to do the cover art
came from his friendship with author Frank Stritto,
another fan of classic horror movies to whom he
had been sending mail art for years.
When the author wrote the book -- his first -- he
asked Demarjian to do the cover art.
"I was thrilled to be associated with this artist and
have my name on this book," Demarjian says.
Looking at examples of Demarjian's work, it's hard
to believe anyone else could be more fit for the job.
Covering the walls, table and floor of his Gloucester
studio are pieces of art he calls "Oltgasm," a word
derived from Lugosi's pseudonym when he worked
as an actor in his native Hungary.
A poster on a table is his most recent creation.
The poster is of the famous Marx brothers with
cigars, mustaches and all. Accompanying the
brothers is a superimposed image of Lugosi as the
mysterious Dracula, clad in his black cloak and
sporting vampire teeth.
Images of Lon Chaney Sr. as the Man of a Thousand
Faces pop up around the studio in many different
colors, shades and conditions alongside drawings of
Boris Karloff as Frankenstein.
Co-workers and fellow artists who know
Demarjian's work understand it better than anyone.
"Haig is one of the most inventive artists in terms of
collage," says Barbara O'Brien, director of the
gallery and visiting artist's program at Montserrat.
"He has a sense of humor and wit in his work that
engages the viewer."
Benjamin Gross, gallery curator and professor of
art at Salem State College, where Demarjian
recently showed some of his work, says he is
impressed with his work because of its audacity.
"It can be very in-your-face and bold at times,"
Gross says.
A recent piece of mail art -- art Demarjian creates
and then sends through the mail to a friend or fan
just for the fun of it -- demonstrates this boldness.
Decorated and ready for postage is a green plastic
trash can lid with one side adorned with an image of
Vlad the Impaler -- a real-life and horribly violent
prince from 15th century Transylvania --
considered by many to be the model for Bram
Stoker's character Dracula.
On the other side is a fan's postal address, a return
address and room for postage, which will be used to
send the piece of art through the mail to its
destination.
Demarjian says he loves mail art and prefers it over
showing his work in galleries.
"My work's always been about communication and
language," he says. "It's about getting the work out
there and getting reactions."
He says creating gallery art is time consuming and
takes away from the pleasure of creating.
"With my limited amount of time I want to do the
work and enjoy the work," says the Gloucester
resident, who declined to reveal his age.
His usual medium is anything but usual.
He creates collages, drawings and paintings on
everything from brown paper bags, chunks of
broken skateboards and pieces of wood.
To satisfy his fascination with animalistic nature,
he's also wrapped his art in meat and surrendered it
to wolves at Wolf Hollow in Ipswich, then framed
the torn and stained paper.
The paper, with the words "This Conceals What
Will Satisfy" printed across it, is about the hidden
agenda that exists in humans as well as animals,
Demarjian says.
Joking that he hangs upside down from the ceiling
and blocks out the sun in his studio to keep from
disintegrating, Demarjian says that he doesn't really
think he's all that weird but is aware that he's not all
that normal either.
Paraphrasing a quote from the comic book and
television character the Incredible Hulk, he
responds, "Normal?" he asks. "Why would I want to
be normal?"