Joe Riley (artist)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Vergel "Joe" Riley (February 26, 1964 – September 27, 2007) was a U.S.
visual and plastic artist based in Dallas, Texas
. A painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and special effect
s makeup artist
, he made horror designs for latex masks and for films, such as the vampire movie Blade: Trinity
from Marvel Comics
, as well as conceptual art for children's animations, such as the Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
franchise from DNA Productions
. He was also a notable part of the multimedia beginnings of the Church of the SubGenius
as St. Joe Riley.
, U.S. His father was Rev. George Vergel Riley (alive ) and his mother Robbie Jean Riley (August 16, 1927 – June 1, 2006). Joe Riley went to a career development high school in Dallas, Skyline High School, majoring in commercial art, graduated in 1982, and followed at college with stage craft classes and the video department.
Riley became an illustrator and painter, a designer and filmmaker, a storyboard and background artist in animation, as well as a movie special effect
s and prosthetic
makeup artist
. He also made videos and audio collages, and sometimes comics. His defining career move was deciding to stay in Dallas: in a 2004 interview, he explained about not moving to Los Angeles, "I really wasn't interested in going to a large pond and being a small fish. I liked the medium to small pond that Dallas was. [...] I wasn't concerned about working on big titled films. [...] It was the work that was the thing... the craft."
Riley was also part of the beginnings of the Church of the SubGenius
in Dallas (see Works section) and a friend of its co-founder Ivan Stang
. On his blog, Riley reminisced in 2006 about how Stang once gave him a tape of cult "kook" Francis E. Dec
recordings that he lent to a friend who played it at a 1993 party in Dallas where Forrest Jackson heard it, leading to Jackson videotaping in 1995 the only documented encounter with the reclusive Dec. About his involvement with the Church, Riley was quoted by the Church's online zine The Stark Fist of Removal as saying: "I'm not into SubGenius for the religious aspect so much. I see the Church more as... genetic stuntmen."
Joe Riley died of a sudden and unexpected heart attack on September 27, 2007, at age 43. He was survived by his ex-wife Julie (married 1994, née Julie Herrington), his wife Penny Riley (met in 1988), and his 9-year-old son Mitch (Mitchell Ian Riley).
, co-founder of the Church of the SubGenius
, as "one of the funniest, coolest, most talented, most patient fellows I have ever had the pleasure to know and work with", Riley was involved with the beginnings of the Church as "St. Joe Riley": he worked on the syndicated program Hour of Slack
and most of the early SubGenius videos, including the 1991 SubGenius commercial for MTV
; he provided key illustrations for Stang's books Revelation X (1994) and The SubGenius Psychlopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon (2006), as well as cards for INWO: SubGenius (1997, an official supplement to the Steve Jackson Games
card game Illuminati: New World Order
); he designed the official face of SubGenius mythos entity NHGH, and made the Church's rubber masks of Dobbs and NHGH (also used in the MTV ad).
Riley produced bizarre masks and designs for Funko
or Death Studios, and prosthetic makeup
or designs for gore or horror movies, such as the Marvel Comics
vampire movie Blade: Trinity
(2004, New Line Cinema
) as painter. Riley also worked as conceptual artist on children's properties: he collaborated to the remake of Mighty Joe Young
(1998, Disney/Buena Vista
) as post-production coordinator, and made designs for the children's animation franchises of Dallas-based production company DNA Productions
, such as the Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
feature (2001, Paramount
) and TV series
(2004, Nickelodeon
) as conceptual and storyboard artist, or The Ant Bully
(2006, Warner Bros.) as digital effects and background artist.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
visual and plastic artist based in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. A painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and special effect
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s makeup artist
Makeup artist
thumb|[[Michelle Camaclang]], an international-certified professional makeup artistthumb|Special effects makeup techniquesA Make-up artist is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics for theatrical, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions...
, he made horror designs for latex masks and for films, such as the vampire movie Blade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity is a 2004 American superhero vampire action film, written and directed by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the screenplays to the first two Blade films...
from Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, as well as conceptual art for children's animations, such as the Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (film)
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 computer-animated film based on a few three-minute animated shorts shown on Nickelodeon between the years 1999-2002, and a pilot in 1998. The film was produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies with O Entertainment and DNA Productions...
franchise from DNA Productions
DNA Productions
DNA Productions, Inc. was an animation studio in Dallas, Texas, founded by John A. Davis and Keith Alcorn in 1987. It was a full service animation company providing script to screen services for the commercial and corporate industry...
. He was also a notable part of the multimedia beginnings of the Church of the SubGenius
Church of the SubGenius
The Church of the SubGenius is a "parody religion" organization that satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, unidentified flying objects, and popular culture. Originally based in Dallas, Texas, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s and maintains an active presence on...
as St. Joe Riley.
Life
Joseph Vergel Riley was born on February 26, 1964, in Dallas County, TexasDallas County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...
, U.S. His father was Rev. George Vergel Riley (alive ) and his mother Robbie Jean Riley (August 16, 1927 – June 1, 2006). Joe Riley went to a career development high school in Dallas, Skyline High School, majoring in commercial art, graduated in 1982, and followed at college with stage craft classes and the video department.
Riley became an illustrator and painter, a designer and filmmaker, a storyboard and background artist in animation, as well as a movie special effect
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s and prosthetic
Prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects...
makeup artist
Makeup artist
thumb|[[Michelle Camaclang]], an international-certified professional makeup artistthumb|Special effects makeup techniquesA Make-up artist is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics for theatrical, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions...
. He also made videos and audio collages, and sometimes comics. His defining career move was deciding to stay in Dallas: in a 2004 interview, he explained about not moving to Los Angeles, "I really wasn't interested in going to a large pond and being a small fish. I liked the medium to small pond that Dallas was. [...] I wasn't concerned about working on big titled films. [...] It was the work that was the thing... the craft."
Riley was also part of the beginnings of the Church of the SubGenius
Church of the SubGenius
The Church of the SubGenius is a "parody religion" organization that satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, unidentified flying objects, and popular culture. Originally based in Dallas, Texas, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s and maintains an active presence on...
in Dallas (see Works section) and a friend of its co-founder Ivan Stang
Ivan Stang
Rev. Ivan Stang, born Douglass St. Clair Smith August 21, 1953 in Washington, D.C., raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. He is best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius...
. On his blog, Riley reminisced in 2006 about how Stang once gave him a tape of cult "kook" Francis E. Dec
Francis E. Dec
Francis E. Dec was a U.S. lawyer from Hempstead Village, New York, disbarred for fraud in 1959, and later known for the bizarre socio-political tracts of conspiracy theories he mass-mailed to the media...
recordings that he lent to a friend who played it at a 1993 party in Dallas where Forrest Jackson heard it, leading to Jackson videotaping in 1995 the only documented encounter with the reclusive Dec. About his involvement with the Church, Riley was quoted by the Church's online zine The Stark Fist of Removal as saying: "I'm not into SubGenius for the religious aspect so much. I see the Church more as... genetic stuntmen."
Joe Riley died of a sudden and unexpected heart attack on September 27, 2007, at age 43. He was survived by his ex-wife Julie (married 1994, née Julie Herrington), his wife Penny Riley (met in 1988), and his 9-year-old son Mitch (Mitchell Ian Riley).
Works
Eulogized by his friend Rev. Ivan StangIvan Stang
Rev. Ivan Stang, born Douglass St. Clair Smith August 21, 1953 in Washington, D.C., raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. He is best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius...
, co-founder of the Church of the SubGenius
Church of the SubGenius
The Church of the SubGenius is a "parody religion" organization that satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, unidentified flying objects, and popular culture. Originally based in Dallas, Texas, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s and maintains an active presence on...
, as "one of the funniest, coolest, most talented, most patient fellows I have ever had the pleasure to know and work with", Riley was involved with the beginnings of the Church as "St. Joe Riley": he worked on the syndicated program Hour of Slack
Hour of Slack
The Hour of Slack is a one-hour radio program produced by the Church of the SubGenius centering around the king of slack, J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. Reverend Ivan Stang presents his own commentary, along with recorded material from all SubGenius radio and stage shows, bands, ranters, media barrage collage...
and most of the early SubGenius videos, including the 1991 SubGenius commercial for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
; he provided key illustrations for Stang's books Revelation X (1994) and The SubGenius Psychlopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon (2006), as well as cards for INWO: SubGenius (1997, an official supplement to the Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
card game Illuminati: New World Order
Illuminati: New World Order
Illuminati: New World Order is a collectible card game that was released in 1995 by Steve Jackson Games, based on their original boxed game Illuminati, which in turn was inspired by The Illuminatus! Trilogy...
); he designed the official face of SubGenius mythos entity NHGH, and made the Church's rubber masks of Dobbs and NHGH (also used in the MTV ad).
Riley produced bizarre masks and designs for Funko
Funko
Funko, or FunKo, is a company that manufactures and produces a wide array of licensed pop culture toys. Funko is most known for producing over 1000 different licensed bobbleheads...
or Death Studios, and prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects...
or designs for gore or horror movies, such as the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
vampire movie Blade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity is a 2004 American superhero vampire action film, written and directed by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the screenplays to the first two Blade films...
(2004, New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
) as painter. Riley also worked as conceptual artist on children's properties: he collaborated to the remake of Mighty Joe Young
Mighty Joe Young (1998 film)
The Music was composed and conduced by James Horner. The Soundtrack was released on December of the year 1998.- Tracklist :...
(1998, Disney/Buena Vista
Buena Vista (Walt Disney Company)
Buena Vista is a brand name frequently used for divisions of The Walt Disney Company, whose primary studios and offices are located on Buena Vista Street in Burbank, California. It was originally created by Walt Disney in 1953 after the release of Peter Pan to distribute his film and television...
) as post-production coordinator, and made designs for the children's animation franchises of Dallas-based production company DNA Productions
DNA Productions
DNA Productions, Inc. was an animation studio in Dallas, Texas, founded by John A. Davis and Keith Alcorn in 1987. It was a full service animation company providing script to screen services for the commercial and corporate industry...
, such as the Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (film)
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a 2001 computer-animated film based on a few three-minute animated shorts shown on Nickelodeon between the years 1999-2002, and a pilot in 1998. The film was produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies with O Entertainment and DNA Productions...
feature (2001, Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
) and TV series
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, often shortened to just Jimmy Neutron, is an American animated television series, and spin-off of the Academy Award-nominated computer-animated movie, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. The series first officially aired on July 20, 2002, on Nickelodeon...
(2004, Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
) as conceptual and storyboard artist, or The Ant Bully
The Ant Bully (film)
The Ant Bully is a 2006 American computer-animated film written and directed by John A. Davis based on the 1999 children's book of the same name by John Nickle...
(2006, Warner Bros.) as digital effects and background artist.
Sources
Main sources used for this article:- DMN (2006). "Riley, Robbie Jean" (mother's obituary), The Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
, June 4, 2006, via NewsBankNewsBankNewsBank, Inc. is a major publisher of news, historical information, and documents to consumers, libraries, educational institutions, and research institutes around the world....
— Pay article not accessed, but abstract provides middle name and family data. - DMN (2007). "Riley, Joseph V." (obituary), The Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
, September 30, 2007, via Legacy.comLegacy.comLegacy.com was founded in 1998 and is the world's largest commercial provider of online memorials. The Web site hosts obituaries and memorials for more than 70 percent of all U.S. deaths. Legacy.com hosts obituaries for more than three-quarters of the 100 largest newspapers in the U.S., by...
— Pay article not accessed, but abstract confirms name and dates. - LLFHC (2007). "Mr. Joseph V. Riley: February 26, 1964 - September 27, 2007" (online memorial), Laurel Land Funeral Homes and Cemeteries, laureldallas.createatribute.com, consulted in March 2009 — Confirms dates and family.
- LMC (2004). "Life and Times of Riley" (interview), Latex Mask Central, October 2004, 3 pages — Industry interview about his horror masks.
- Riley, Joe (2005). "Get Up Offa' the Meat Loaf of the Gods" (Archive.org copy of 2006 – highlight text if displayed white on white), Riley's blog Men-Oo-She-A, May 7, 2005 — Wife and child data.
- Riley, Joe (2006). "Francis E. Dec, Esquire" (Archive.org copy of 2006 – highlight text if displayed white on white), Riley's blog Men-Oo-She-A, August 19, 2006 — The Francis E. DecFrancis E. DecFrancis E. Dec was a U.S. lawyer from Hempstead Village, New York, disbarred for fraud in 1959, and later known for the bizarre socio-political tracts of conspiracy theories he mass-mailed to the media...
anecdote. - Stang, IvanIvan StangRev. Ivan Stang, born Douglass St. Clair Smith August 21, 1953 in Washington, D.C., raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. He is best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius...
(2007). "St. Joe Riley" (eulogy), The Stark Fist of Removal, October 6, 2007
Further reading
- DMN (1997). "Tinsel 'Toon: Dallas animation firm finishes holiday special in the St. Nick of time", by Catherine Cuellar, The Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
, December 13, 1997 — DNA ProductionsDNA ProductionsDNA Productions, Inc. was an animation studio in Dallas, Texas, founded by John A. Davis and Keith Alcorn in 1987. It was a full service animation company providing script to screen services for the commercial and corporate industry...
press clipping from a pay article about Santa vs. the Snowman 3DSanta vs. the Snowman 3DSanta vs. the Snowman 3D is a half-hour computer-animated short, created by O Entertainment and produced by Steve Oedekerk. Originally made as a television special, the film was later presented in IMAX 3D theaters during the holiday seasons of 2002-2006. It was released on DVD by Universal Studios...
(1997, ABCABC EntertainmentABC Entertainment is a network production company owned by ABC that was created in 1982.The company was previously known as ABC Television Network Productions, ABC Circle Films, and ABC Productions...
), including on page 3C: "Dallas latex foam sculptor Joe Riley and production designer Dan Dudley created the rest of the eye-popping animation, such as the spooky Nutcracker, a security viewing portal for Santa's helpers and several snow beasts and vehicles, many of which suggest famous sci-fi film sets and characters. Brett Hester, a local graphic designer and former architecture student, then used computers to build and model virtual 3-D versions of the Riley and Dudley drawings." - DNA ProductionsDNA ProductionsDNA Productions, Inc. was an animation studio in Dallas, Texas, founded by John A. Davis and Keith Alcorn in 1987. It was a full service animation company providing script to screen services for the commercial and corporate industry...
, press clippings (including Jimmy Neutron and Ant Bully): There may be more Riley coverage here, but because they are scanned images they can't be searched and have to be read entirely.
Official
- Joe Riley's blog Men-Oo-She-A at BloggerBlogger (service)Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish...
- Joe Riley's art memorial at SubGenius.com
- Joe Riley's masks at The Monster Lab (Archive.org of 2006, JavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
required)
Filmographies
Some databases are shared but details vary and none is perfect:- Joe Riley at Fancast (rather complete)
- Joe Riley at InBaseline
- Joe Riley at the New York Times/Baseline
- Joe Riley at Yahoo! MoviesYahoo! MoviesYahoo! Movies , provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Yahoo! Movies also includes red carpet photos, actor galleries, and production...
- Joe Riley at Hollywood.com (very incomplete)