Re-post from my story for The NewTimes found here.

Brandon Paul Zombie Art Show, Pub Crawl in Delray Beach

By Adam Smith Tue., Nov. 1 2011 at 8:02 AM

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The second-annual Delray Beach "Night of the Drinking Dead" Zombie Crawl kicked off on Saturday night with a zombie prom at the Arts Garage. The decked-out room housed amazing works from artist Brandon Paul as the backdrop for mingling under ambient lighting and all-things-zombie themed decorations.

We are talking about a 12-foot, larger-than-life sized arm rising from the ground to the ceiling, sweeping tapestries, and a baby grand piano with more arms reaching out of the grave. Beers were cheap and the crawlers steadily made their way into the hall for some dance music and pregame art spectating. Many of them took the costume side very seriously and almost everyone was fitting the half-dead motif.

Brandon Paul showed up with his crew and talked to an inquiring enthusiast about his dozen or so pieces. A few interested people even dropped some dough and bought the works right off the wall. Having transplanted from South Carolina with his girlfriend, Nico, the design mind behind 2611 clothing, Paul has been contributing to the local art scene dating back to the Aura Music & Arts Festival in January. Since then, things have found a way to fall into place for the creatively inclined duo. Now the hard work is starting to pay off.

Paul's twisted approach to zombie art depicted a more modern take on a postapocalyptic world. Rather than appealing to simple blood and brains facets of the niche subject, the emotion and sociopolitical connotations of an existence between life, death, and decay are strongly emphasized in his impressive collection. The contrasting beauty of his trademark female depictions and the rawness of survival in a threatening world are cohesive and tell a story both as individual works and a collection.

Although not working with his typical choice of subject, Paul and his attention to detail and emphasis that define his style made even dead look sexy. As the pregame session à la prom came to a close, it was only the beginning for the partially deceased mob. The quest for booze would replace blood and take the stumbling crew to Dada for a Creep House, a dead-rock-star party at Delux, and finally an apocalyptic bunker party at Kevro's Art Bar. Truly a zombie lover's dream come true.