Friday, July 20, 2012

Artist Spotlight: Rick Genest

More affectionately known as "Zombie Boy" or "Rico the Zombie," Rick Genest is our very own modern day Cinderella. Classic rags to riches story. A Montreal native, Genest was the typical angst-ridden teen, associating with down-wind vagabonds and heavily influenced by punk rock culture. One would assume that the "Zombie Boy" moniker derived from the obvious outward display of tattoos (resembling a decomposing corpse) that cover about 80% of his body. Contrary to popular belief though, the nickname was given to him by his friends after surviving a life threatening surgery to remove a brain tumor, pre-ink fest. The name stuck, so he ran with it; right into the hands of Frank Lewis, the tattoo artist responsible for most of the zombie suit.

Once his body modifications were underway, Genest began to flourish creatively as a sideshow performer, gaining lots of attention. So much that he made an appearance in the 2009 film "Cirque Du Freaks: The Vampire's Assistant," after which a Facebok fan page was created, reaching well over 1.5 million supporters in 2010. This buzz caught the attention of Lady Gaga's creative director, Nicola Formichetti, landing Genest a stroll down the catwalk for MUGLER's 2011 Autumn/Winter collections, headlining as Formichetti's muse. Shortly thereafter, Zombie Boy made an inevitable cameo in Gaga's "Born This Way" video, which is probably his most noted project to date. In late 2011, he joined Dermablend's "Go Beyond the Cover" campaign, which boasts a mind blowing video (shot mostly in reverse) of Genest demonstrating the remarkable effects of Dermablend's professional make-up/coverage product line. Leaning on Zombie Boy's mild mannered yet blatant disregard for popular opinion, and his uncanny sex appeal, both Dermablend and Nicola Formichetti are pushing the envelope, and challenging society's mainstreamed idea of "beauty."

Needless to say, the last few years have been... interesting to say the least... for an otherwise seemingly humble guy. From not being able to get a passport to flat out jet-setting, I can imagine that Rick Genest has had a whirlwind of experiences: talk shows, interviews, music videos, photo shoots, magazine covers, short films, movies, setting Guinness world records, and even (most recently) participating in this years Comic-Con in San Diego, California where a Zombie Boy doll made its debut, courtesy of http://www.tonnerdoll.com/. Though he certainly appears to be taking full advantage of his worldwide exposure, Genest plans to return to his roots in the performing arts, as a circus freak, once his 15 minutes of fame are up. If you'd like to keep an eye on the social media phenomenon, check in to rickgenest.com, follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/ricothezombie, or "like" his Facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/RicoTheZombie for all the latest news, appearances, tour dates, cool pictures/videos, and random zombie jargon :)