Meet Chet Zar: Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chet Zar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chet, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wanted to be able to paint what I wanted for a living. I had been in the film industry as a makeup effects artist for about 15 years at that point and was feeling creatively unsatisfied. So the business was just a means to an end: to be able to support myself as a fine artist.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I like to paint monsters. It’s really just that simple. I could take about the “shadow work” perspective (confronting your shadow, integrating it into your life in a healthy way through art) but while that is also true, I just find monsters and dark imagery more fun and satisfying to create. I also like to play the game of creating something that is traditionally considered ‘ugly’ or ‘dark’ and making a beautiful painting out of it. I like the dichotomy. It feels more truthful than painting pretty pictures to me. It’s definitely been a 7 day a week grind and it took around 15 years of that kind of commitment and hard work (and luck) to get past the point of having my mortgage due in a couple of days and only having 10 bucks in the bank but I wouldn’t trade it. While I get to create what I want I also get to set my own schedule and not leave the house unless I want to. I’m a homebody. I guess I’m pretty proud of my body of work as well as my podcast/dark art community building project, The Dark Art Society. I interview Dark Artists and other guests and a really cool and supportive community has built up around that. My overall goal is to help bring the “good news” of Dark Art to the art community at large and help give those of us who find solace in a dark aesthetic a place to be themselves.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would probably take them to eat at Zelo, my favorite pizza place. It’s in Arcadia. They serve a cornmeal crust pizza and it rules. Then I might take them to Copro Gallery, which is my favorite gallery in LA (and my mom base as an artist). Then we might hit up Dark Art Emporium and get some pizza at The 4th Horseman. Then maybe some other galleries like Hyaena, the Hive and definitely Wacko. I take everybody from out of town to Wacko. Those are pretty much the only places I go to. Like I said, I’m a homebody.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife always comes first for me because she really supported me taking this leap simply because it was my dream. But I would also like to send a shout out to all of my supporters from throughout the years. I couldn’t do what I do for a living without their support.

Website: www.chetzar.com

Instagram: @chetzar

Twitter: @chetzar

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChetZarArtist

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/chetzar

Other: www.darkartsociety.com Patreon.com/chetzar Patreon.com/darkartsociety

Image Credits
Chet Zar Larry underhill