Malleus Rock Art Lab

Malleus Rock Art Lab
The three-headed collective.
Background information
Alias	Malleus, Malleus Rock Art Collective
Born	1999, Tortona (Alessandria), Piedmont, Italy
Occupation	Painters, Illustrators, Graphic Artists
Genres	Doom Metal, Stoner Metal, Stoner Rock, Rock and Roll, Sludge Metal, etc.
Years active	1999 - Present
Labels	Supernatural Cat
Associated acts	Ufomammut
Website	Malleusdelic

Malleus Rock Art Lab (Often abbreviated to Malleus) are an artistic collective out of Italy, active since 1999. Composed of Ufomammut members Urlo, Poia and Lu, this critically acclaimed collective has earned notoriety for their high-quality silk-screened posters. Initially a graphic design collective, by 2002 they began composing flyers for bands of all walks of the rock world and even major curated events such as Roadburn Festival and DesertFest London to scratch the surface.

With their nucleus of the female form in context as a primordial goddess, the group exudes a blackened art nouveau with elements of expressionism, surrealism and symbolism topped with a deep understanding and passion for music. The collective works are majorly hand-drawn

The iconography at the base of their work originates from a vast scenery including figurative arts, in particular Expressionism and Symbolism, Art Nouveau and Surrealism, Pop Art and Psychedelic Art, and also comics, photography, cinema and literature. All these ingredients blend in with the main element of their poetics; that is the female form, the primordial goddess, from whom everything comes. Blackened art nouveau mixed with elements of surrealism and quotes from the school of expressionism glowing in its amber, resulting in an almost psychedelically overwhelming experience of visual magick. All of the power trio’s works are based on hand-drawings and reflect the artists’ deep understanding and love for music. Though the majority of their works are commissioned for bands the collective has branched out with designs for horror movies (Specifically Dario Argento), magazines and novellas. Other clients have included the likes of Shaun White, Volvo, Activision, Oakley, Dark City Gallery, MTV and Rolling Stone.

Going nearly twenty years strong, Malleus has worked with all sorts of bands and set up art exhibitions all over the world, garnering respect among multiple circles including the stoner rock, doom metal and psychedelic scenes.

Selected Artists and Events Malleus Has Worked With

• Ufomammut
• Bongzilla (2003)
• The Flaming Lips (2003)
• High on Fire (2003, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2013)
• Melvins (2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017)
• Tomahawk (2003)
• Turbonegro (2003)
• Spiritual Beggars (2003)
• Brant Bjork (2004, 2007, 2015)
• The Cure (2004)
• Iggy and The Stooges (2004, 2006)
• Mark Lanegan (2004, 2007)
• Nick Oliveri (2004)
• Monster Magnet (2004, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018)
• Motorpsycho (2004, 2008, 2009, 2016)
• Acid Mothers Temple (2005, 2008)
• Beck (2005)
• Black Mountain (2005)
• Dead Meadow (2005)
• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
• The Mars Volta (2005)
• Mastodon (2005, 2011)
• Dozer (2005)
• Queens of the Stone Age (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017)
• Sonic Youth (2005, 2007)
• Big Business (2006, 2009)
• Flipper (2006)
• Porn (The Men Of) (2006)
• Mogwai (2006, 2009)
• Mono (2006, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014)
• Robert Plant (2006)
• Mudhoney (2006, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
• Earth (2006, 2008, 2012)
• Sunn O))) (2006, 2007)
• Damo Suzuki (2006)
• Wolfmother (2006)
• Neurosis (2007, 2008, 2009, 2013)
• Om (2007, 2009, 2010)
• Pelican (2007)
• Witch (2007)
• ASG (2007, 2014, 2015, 2018)
• Baby Woodrose (2007)
• Blue Cheer (2007)
• ISIS (2007)
• Jucifer (2007)
• Baroness (2008)
• Black Cobra (2008, 2013, 2015)
• Boris (2008)
• Current 93 (2008)
• Down (2008, 2009)
• Scott Kelly (2008)
• Thrones (2008)
• Cathedral (2009)
• Eyehategod (2009, 2010)
• Grails (2009)
• Karma To Burn (2009, 2010)
• Sleep (2009, 2017)
• Candlemass (2010)
• Goblin (2011)
• Kyuss Lives! (2011)
• Dario Argento (2012, 2013)
• Corrosion of Conformity (2012)
• Primus (2012)
• Crosby, Stills & Nash (2014)
• King Buzzo (2014)
• Ulver (2014)
• Acid King (2015)
• Foo Fighters (2015, 2017)
• Faith No More (2015)
• Magma (2017)
• Sonic Wolves (2017)
• Neapolis Festival (2006)
• Roadburn Festival (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Hellfest (2009)
• Stoned From The Underground (2010)
• Supersonic Festival (2010)
• DesertFest London (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
• Incubate Festival
• Asymmetry Festival

Publications

• The Hammer of God: The Art of Malleus Rock Art Lab (2008)
• Dark Nouveau: Malleus Solo Exhibition (2016)
• The Art of Ufomammut: From Space 1999 to The Infinity And Beyond – A Graphic Journey By Malleus (2017)

Exhibitions

• 2008 – Disjecta Gallery – Portland, Oregon, United States
• 2008 – La Luz de Jesus Gallery – Los Angeles, United States
• 2008 – Andenken Gallery – Denver, United States
• 2009 – Art Rock Gallery – San Francisco, United States
• 2009 – Varnish Fine Art – San Francisco, United States
• 2009 – Mole Vanvitelliana – Ancona, Italy
• 2009 – Gallery De Stripkever – Mechelen, Belgium
• 2015 – Sottovento – Pavia, Italy
• 2016 – Palazzo Saluzzo di Paesana – Turin, Italy
• 2016 – Tune Up – Antwerp, Belgium
• 2017 – Galerie Malzhaus – Plauen, Germany

Group Events

• 2002 – Artifacts of the Improbable – Trocadero – Philadelphia, United States
• 2005 – The Munny Show – Kidrobot/Drive In Studios – NYC, United States
• 2006 – Swear Bear Show – CBGB gallery – NYC, United States
• 2008/2009 – American Poster Institute – Flatstock – Hamburg, Germany
• 2009 – Beatlemania Museum Show – Hamburg, Germany
• 2008/2009 – TPRS ”The Rock Poster Society” – San Francisco, United States
• 2009 – Incubate festival – Tilburg, Netherlands
• 2010 – Röchaholics II – Rosematt Villa, Zürich, Switzerland
• 2012 – Dead Rockstars – Blunt Graffix – Eugene, OR, United States
• 2013 – Grand Guignol : Thanatos Exhibition Poster – Century Guild Art Gallery – Chicago, United States
• 2013 – Weapon of Choice – Hero Complex Gallery – Los Angeles,CA, United States
• 2016 – Foo Fighters Sonic Art Ways – French Paper Gallery – Paris, France

External Links

• Malleus Rock Art Lab on Facebook
• Malleusdelic Blog
• Malleus Rock Art Lab on YouTube
• Malleus Rock Art Lab on Twitter
• Malleus Rock Art Lab on DeviantArt
• Malleus Rock Art Lab on Instagram