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Review & Photos: Creature From The Black Lagoon exhibition at Sugar Mynt

Up from the Depths: A Tribute to Creature from the Black Lagoon

Update: Since originally posting on June 24, this announcement has been updated with photographs and a review of the Creature from the Black Lagoon exhibition.

From the Depths: A Tribute to Creature from the Black Lagoon runs from June 29 to August 10 at SugarMynt Gallery in South Pasadena. The exhibition offers a lagoon full of artwork inspired by the 1954 science fiction film from Universal Pictures, along with decor immersing visitors into the Gill Man’s swampy jungle.

The opening night party takes place on Saturday, June 29 from 7pm to 10pm. Tickets are $15. The remainder of the exhibition runs during the gallery’s regular business hours. Regular admission is $10. There is a free section in front; tickets grant entrance to the Up from the Depths exhibit, plus artwork and memorabilia related to Halloween (1977), Hocus Pocus, and A Nightmare before Christmas. After From the Depths, SugarMynt’s next exhibition will be another installment in their annual tribute to the Halloween film franchise: Nostalgic Night in Haddonfield will run from August 31 through October 31.

From the Depths: A Tribute to Creature from the Black Lagoon
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Rating Scale

1 – Poor
2 – Mediocre
3 – Good
4 – Great
5 – Excellent

Not that we’re qualified to talk about art, but the From the Depths: Creature from the Black Lagoon Tribute is one of our favorite exhibitions to grace SugarMynt. Largely this is because of our affection for the subject matter. The 1954 science fiction film may not be a masterpiece, but it is a classic depiction of the beauty-and-the-beast theme played out as a horror story, and there is something charming about the film’s naive attitude about having a subhuman creature pursuing a beautiful woman in a smokin’ hot, form-fitting white swimsuit. Sure, King Kong pursued Ann Darrow, but the size differential guaranteed that consummation was out of the question. Not so in the case of the Creature and Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams), but the characters barely seem to grasp the implication. Nowadays we can all snicker about the implied but unacknowledged hints of bestiality, but what’s great about the film is that by not stating anything out loud, it leaves it up to us to draw our own conclusions.

And that’s what makes this exhibition great. Think of the film as a kind of dream open to interpretation, which gives the arts here plenty of room to run with their own ideas, always derived from the film but taking its implications further, sometimes amplifying the sexual innuendo or even adding a hint of mutual romantic interest.

From the Depths Creature from the Black Lagoon exhibition
Beauty Creates the Beast

Our favorite piece, “Beauty Creating the Beast,” goes in a different direction, depicting Milicent Patrick, the artist who rendered the final design of the Gill Man, in a pose echoing Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam.” In the 1950s, only department heads (in this case, Bud Westmore) got their names listed in the films, so Patrick’s contribution went uncredited. Fortunately, Mallory O’Meara’s 2019 book, The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick gave the artist long overdue attention. The sly joke is that, while Patrick’s right hand dabs the finishing touch on the Creature, her left hand is clasped over the mouth of a man in the background, obviously intended to represent Westmore.

Another nice aspect of From the Depths is that the lagoon setting of the movie affords an opportunity for some nice theming of the venue, with foliage and netting adding an immersive swampy aura to SugarMynt’s entrance area, main gallery, and back room. The decor extends to the back yard, with a poster from the film, skeletons, and the Creature’s arm reaching through a lifebuoy. Definitely worth a visit for fans of classic movie monsters. Come to think of it, too bad this exhibition was not running in conjunction with Monsters of the American Cinema at the Matrix Theatre in April, which featured a young man whose favorite film was The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

SugarMynt is open noon to 4pm on Wednesdays and noon to 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The address is 810 Meridian Avenue in South Pasadena. Get more information at their website.

Up from the Depths Photo Gallery

We recommended clicking on the first picture and then strolling through the entire gallery in order to get a good look at this fine art…

Steve Biodrowski, Administrator

A graduate of USC film school, Steve Biodrowski has worked as a film critic, journalist, and editor at Movieline, Premiere, Le Cinephage, The Dark Side., Cinefantastique magazine, Fandom.com, and Cinescape Online. He is currently Managing Editor of Cinefantastique Online and owner-operator of Hollywood Gothique.