Did you ever wonder what sort of store Leatherface (from Texas Chainsaw Massacre) would open if he were so inclined? I never did until I saw the the gallery Ghost Town open. All you have to do is to take one look inside to get the idea that there is a creepy dark side to this crazy place. Why, you ask? Remember the scene in TCSM when the young girl explores the lair of Leatherface? Remember all of the bones... and all of the feathers... and the general sinking feeling that you had? I recall yelling at the TV, "Get out of there!" Of course the girl doesn't decide to flee until it's too late. If those are the types of movie scenes that turn you on, then Ghost Town may be the right place for you.
It turns out that one of the gallery owners, Derek Hendrickson, is a friend of mine who moved back to Buffalo a couple of years ago. In the past he would supply me (my store) with his handcrafted Elvis busts. They were popular sellers, and many of them can be found behind bars such as Mother's and The Old Pink. Derek's specialty was to take an Elvis bust and transform it into a cross between the rocker and some sort of ghoul. They all had crazy names like Aquavelvis, Elvistein, or Hellvis. When I saw one of these busts in the gallery window, I immediately knew who was behind this dark operation.
I called Derek (at his real job) to ask a bit more about the new gallery addition to Main Street. He told me that he, Mikael Nichlas, Sean Kulak, and Beth Hintermeier, a mix of tattoo artists and artists, decided to lay claim to the storefront in order to display their work. "You'll find sculptures, paintings, drawings, and other creations in there," he told me. "We've only just started and we have tons of friends who are artists in the area. We'll be doing another show in a couple of weeks called Dead of Winter (February 1st and 2nd). The main concentration is the four of us... usually the gallery opens on Saturday afternoons and evenings... and for show openings. Down the road we're extremely flexible, so we never know which direction we'll be heading. Our first show was a big success. The people from the neighborhood stop by and gawk in the window... I'm a tattoo artist and I work at Renaissance Tattoo across the street. It's interesting to see people's reactions when they stop to take a look inside."
Ghost Town is located at 3216 Main Street
For any additional interest from artists or patrons, please call Renaissance Tattoo:
3223 Main St | Buffalo, NY 14214 | (716) 831-0588