“Mr. Smudge,” one of two dog sculptures by Mill Valley artist Robert Adams, can be seen at Arts Benicia for “After Dark,” an exhibit curated by Jen Tough of the Jen Tough Gallery. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)

Although most would rather not think about it, the Halloween season is starting to creep in. Just look at all the Halloween decorations in stores, advertisements for pumpkin spice lattes and emergence of Halloween specialty stores— all in the middle of September. Arts Benica’s curated exhibition, “After Dark,” is not Halloween-themed, but it is still a celebration of the dark and macabre. As Jen Tough explains in her curator’s statement, “After Dark” is about “allowing the voices of our own tiny devils to come out and play.”

The exhibit, which opens Saturday, was an opportunity for artists to promote their darker, more dreamlike sides. Celeste Smeland, Arts Benicia’s executive director, said the exhibitions committee wanted to explore the concept of “After Dark” after seeing other galleries’ interpretations of the theme. Since Arts Benicia typically hosts its curated exhibit in the fall, she said it seemed like a good theme for the season, especially with the days becoming shorter.

“It seemed like the right mood for it in the fall,” Smeland said.

The idea was presented in an open-ended manner to Tough, who Smeland says ran away with the concept.

Tough is the owner of the Jen Tough Gallery, a gallery for emerging and career artists which moved from Vallejo to the Arsenal in February. Prior to that, Tough spent more than 20 years in Los Angeles as an art director for such companies as Warner Bros. Records, Urban Outfitters, and she also directed a range of creative products for Drew Carey and was a creative consultant for Nike. She moved to the Bay Area when her husband started working in the tech industry and established a gallery in Vallejo. She later moved to Benicia because of the space in the Arsenal and the camaraderie among artists.

“Everybody was so supportive of me when I was in Vallejo, and then I talked to Celeste when I was thinking about moving and decided that it was going to be a really smart move for my business,” she said.

As Smeland was seeking out potential curators for the exhibit more than a year ago, she became impressed with Tough’s professionalism and tendency to promote local artists and approached her with the idea of curating the show before she had relocated her gallery.

“She was an emerging gallerist in Vallejo at the time and was very interested in promoting local artists,” she said. “It’s interesting that she’s now right here and part of the whole Arsenal community.”

When Tough was presented with the “After Dark” theme, she decided to build on it and make it less literal.

“I wanted to expand on darker ideas or things that you do after dark,” she said, “things that are on the darker side.”

Tough selected works from 23 artists throughout the country. Most hail from the Bay Area, but others reside in places like San Diego, Encinitas, and Newport, Ky. Arsenal artists include Carol Dalton, Jeff Snell and Suzanne Long.

“Hell’s Valley #3” by Tamera Avery. (Courtesy painting)

Using a variety of media, artists provided creative interpretations of the theme. San Francisco artist Tamera Avery contributed a painted self portrait set in a dreamlike void titled “Hell’s Valley #3”, and Sacramento artist John Yoyogi Fortes created an acrylic and collage, “Re-cognition/Sacrifice Towards Preservation” featuring a rather gruesome image of Porky Pig, but that’s not all, folks. Other pieces are a little more playful. Mill Valley artist Robert Adams created lifelike sculptures of two dogs named Mr. Smudge and Woody.

“I thought they were sort of like night creatures,” Tough said. “They look like something you would see in a dream because they have this cartoon, whimsical appearance. They don’t seem like real.”

Overall, Tough describes the exhibit as “imagination come to life” and hopes viewers find the works unique and feel engaged with “work they haven’t been exposed to before that’s not as approachable as some stuff they might see, maybe a little more challenging because it’s kind of dark.”

“After Dark” will run from Sept. 15 to Oct. 21. An opening reception, featuring exhibiting artists will run from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Arts Benicia Gallery, located at 991 Tyler St. Suite 114. Additionally, Family Art Day will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30; and Global Day of Clay— consisting of a participatory clay sculpture from noon to 6 p.m., and an artist talk from 6 to 7 p.m.— will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 10. The gallery’s hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. For more information, call 747-0131, email info@artsbenicia.org or visit artsbenicia.org.

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