Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Alexander. He’s an artist, family man and has birthed the alter ego of The Grim Wreather – www.thegrimwreather.com.
He has created custom Halloween wreaths for luminaries like Dita Von Teese, Carol Lim, Kelly Wearstler, and Rafael De Cardenas. Built pop up stores and environments for Nike, Nordstrom, Rachel Comey and the Exclusive Grim Wreather collection for Opening Ceremony.
Andy, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
My pleasure! I’m a native of Los Angeles, Artist, Wreather, Husband and dad. I did all my schooling in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A and Art Center, and I love the journey of inventing and reinventing my life here. It’s a magical place to be an outsider in a huge community of brilliant outsiders. My Grandfather was Irving Shulman, he wrote pulp fiction books in the 40s and 50s. Future beat poets would eat his shit up! Hiding in closets in fear their parents would catch them and ground them for reading smut. Eventually, he went on to write the screenplay for Rebel Without a Cause which was loosely based upon one of his novels. I bring this up because I think I inherited his love of Los Angeles, the outsider and fascination with pop culture. I remember talking to my grandfather about Dr. Who and Godzilla when I was a kid. He was a classic Jewish intellectual though he put it to work in unusual ways, studying the Twilight Zone like it was the Talmud. His influence gave me permission to be a weirdo artist and make cool shit.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I went to Art School because I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. In a way the visceral need to make art is a blessing and a curse. I never could’ve gotten an MBA.
In art school I was freaking people out with the same vigor that frat guys slam beer bongs. In one year I had the bomb squad called on me and was arrested at Disneyland for impersonating an employee. It was fun and I feel really fortunate to have had a “safe” space to flex those weirdo muscles.
I strive to make stuff with a soul in it. That’s the hardest thing to make and it’s a skill. Anybody can make something, but can you make it feel alive? Can you make it feel like its got lifeforce? Like it’s trying to communicate with you in an alien language but you totally understand it?
After I graduated, I made installations and experiences for galleries and museums. Big shit that you climb into and get lost. I loved creating secret rooms in basements where anything can happen; spaces that transport viewers into higher realms of consciousness using movies like The Shining, Evil Dead 2 and Red Dragon as material. I also loved the performance aspect of Art. I did a performance where I dressed up as a scientologist and served cakes decorated to look like galaxies. I got my brother to join in and we dressed like twins.
Eventually, I said fuck it and randomly found my passion making Halloween wreaths and started a company called The Grim Wreather. And here I am now.
So, when I make a Halloween wreaths, it might be small and hang on your door but it’s gigantic because you get lost in the details and the story. Little Big, just as long as it consumes you and makes you feel connected. I want people to feel and connect with me. To connect at a level beyond intellect. Intellect is for doctors and scientists, I play with another part of the brain.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
Over the years I found success has to be personal. Compare and despair. It has to be about pushing your own limits. Being fearless and always saying yes because you never know! My advice is always deliver beyond expectations. Make the most out of life, don’t squander time. Hustle and don’t wait for things to come your way. Figure out what you want to do and do the detective work to figure out how to make it happen. Track people down, send emails out. Stalk people on Instagram and Linked In. Get good at hearing “no”. Also, Everything you make for yourself should be done next level or else what else are you doing? And meditate. Everyday.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Recently I’ve been collaborating with Courtney Nichols (Disco Dining Club) and Laurent Quenioux (LQ Foodlings) on a series of immersive dinner experiences. Our first dinner was called The Flowering of the Strange Orchid (based on a HG Wells short story) for Halloween 2018 and I felt totally blown away by the creative energy that came from the collaboration. I hate all that commercial Halloween stuff that has become so ubiquitous. The jumping zombies, chainsaws and dark hallways is fun but I wanted to make something that paid homage to how beautiful horror can be. I created an incredible 12-foot paper mache tree with my buddy Chris Siess. We had psychedelic video projections of plants communicating with humans by my friend Lee Minton and Molly Shea. Drag queens with giant pet bugs and MIMES! Laurent made an incredible 5-course meal and it was served in a haunted Victorian greenhouse that I created with my team. Sitar players, absinthe, and tons of drippy candles. Right now we are working on a Valentine’s day event called the Ominous Marriage of Cupid and Psyche and this shit is going to be next level. Next will be a Passover dinner in April. Can you imagine an amazing Passover dinner with incredible set design and drag queens? It’s such a great story and the meal is so symbolic and beautiful. I recommend you follow my adventures, reluctantly posted on Instagram @thegrimwreather
You can get tickets for Valentine’s Day here: https://restlessnites.com/cupid
You can also see my wreaths and projects at www.thegrimwreather.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thegrimwreather.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegrimwreather/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegrimwreather/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyalexander/
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