Explore the beauty of life and death at Long Beach Creative Group’s Memento Mori show

From Oct. 14 to Nov. 11, the Rod Briggs Memorial Gallery will host 20 spooky, macabre events all for free. 

Over the next month, there’s one place in Long Beach where residents can go for spooky storytimes, opera performances, costume parties, a masquerade ball, tarot card readings, historical discussions and over 300 works of art—all for free. 

The Long Beach Creative Group is celebrating the impermanence of life and the beauty of death in its most ambitious programming yet: Memento Mori and The Macabre. 

The Rod Briggs Memorial Gallery in downtown Long Beach has invited over 50 artists to enter pieces that capture what life and death mean to them. Over 300 paintings, photographs, collages, prints, drawings and sculptures are included in the show, featuring a wide range of images and tones. 

Exhibit Coordinator Helen Cox said the idea stemmed from her experience hosting “Halloween extravaganzas” every year in her home, which resulted in hundreds of people coming through over the three years they hosted. Her affinity for the macabre only grew from there. 

“Memento mori is the recognition that we’re all going to die, life is fragile and because of that, we want to live life to the fullest and really enjoy its beauty and the amazing things it has to offer,” Cox said. 

Local company Bunny King Productions volunteered their involvement early on, with a natural affinity toward the theme. The company will be helping host the larger events throughout the month. 

LBCG expanded its scope of artists this year in order to produce a more diverse experience for the community, with artists from around Los Angeles County. Cox said one of the gallery’s main focuses this year has been to reach younger and more culturally diverse audiences. 

Local painter Jana Opincariu said the show’s theme is right up her alley, as she tends to work with macabre often. Her oil painting shows a skull with the jaw missing from its face with a single white daisy sprouting from a crack on the top of the skull. 

Opincariu said she wanted to show the “duality” of life and death by merging a living flower and a broken skull. 

“When we think of death, our immediate thoughts go to the end of life, the end of a living thing. Death to me means many things; the end of the day is a strange sort of death,” Opincariu said. “We’re surrounded by endings everyday. We’re always in a state of constant entropy and chaos. Life would not be appreciated as it is without death … death and life they’re so much closer than we realize.”

She said she hopes the show will teach people that death doesn’t always have to be a dark thing, and there can be a “regality” to death. 

This idea will also be explored in many of the readings taking place throughout the next month at the gallery. Cox said that local librarians have volunteered to read fun, silly Halloween-themed books to children ages 2 through 6, while kids ages 6 through 12 will get the chance to hear dramatic readings of the cult classic novel “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” and adults can enjoy readings from various community members. 

Iconic horror writers will be highlighted during the dramatic readings, such as Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Neil Gaiman, Shirley Jackson and Clive Barker. 

Residents can gain a deeper appreciation of the show through the two educational opportunities, “Bringing Death to Life: The History and Philosophy of Memento Mori,” or gain insights into their future through two tarot card reading nights. 

For local illustrator Tarik Mask, the wonder and opportunity to guess about life and death was part of his reason for entering his work into the show. Mask specializes in skeleton drawings, saying that he enjoys how much detail he can hide in the pieces. 

His illustrations show intricate, yet cartoon-like characters reminiscent of the classic Mickey Mouse characters with large black eyes and goofy expressions. 

“There’s an aspect that isn’t meant to be bleak or anything, but there’s kind of an excitement about death in it, what comes next,” Mask said. “… I had a little bit of a fascination with mythology and what comes next. I think that came from having the bible available as a youth.”

Bleak moments will be rare in the Rod Briggs Memorial Gallery, with opening ceremonies on Oct. 14 and 15 setting the tone with music and costumes. The celebrations continue with a masquerade ball on Oct. 22 and “Phantom of the Opera” song performances on Nov. 4.

At the closing ceremony on Nov. 11, residents can look back on all they’ve learned, take home some commemorative bookmarks and enter raffles to win the books read throughout the month. 

All events will take place at the Rod Briggs Memorial Gallery at 2221 E Broadway and will be free. For the full list of events in the Memento Mori and The Macabre, visit https://longbeachcreativegroup.com/special-events/.