St. Louis artist Garrett Roberts sees beauty in the darkness.

As a founding member and resident artist at Soulard Art Gallery, Roberts enjoys bringing his love of dark art to the St. Louis community during the gallery’s annual “Art of Darkness” exhibit, an all media art exhibit showcasing pieces that are, as the event description says, “creepy, macabre, morbid, surreal, haunting, unnerving, weird, ghastly, grotesque, hideous, grim, eerie, spooky, gothic, sinister or disturbing.”

“Resident artists at Soulard Art Gallery each take turns curating various themed shows throughout the year,” Roberts said. “As much of my art is rather dark themed, it was natural for me to dream up and curate ‘Art of Darkness,’ which of course always coincides with Halloween.”

This year’s exhibit will kick off with a special reception from 7-9 p.m. Oct. 2. The event will feature live music by Cellist Jake Brookman and refreshments. Admission is free. The exhibit will be on display through Nov. 6.

The exhibit is traditionally one of the gallery’s most successful and usually includes around 80 artists. The gallery is accepting submissions through midnight Sept. 19. It is free to submit and $40 to display if accepted. The gallery doesn’t take commission from artists’ sales. For more information about submitting art, visit the Soulard Art Gallery website.

“I think dark art is so popular is because it has a way of captivating the imagination like few other artistic styles,” Roberts said. “It can push boundaries, provoke thought, and break free from conventional aesthetics.”

Soulard Art Gallery is located at 2028 S 12th St., St. Louis, MO.

EDITOR’S NOTE: All artwork featured in this article created by Garrett Roberts.

Kathryn Deters McDonald is a Missouri native, writer, author and lover of all things spooky, ooky and eerie. Salem, Shmalem. It’s all right here in The Spook-Me State.