[ORGAN PLAYING] JEREMY SCHOTT: With the human
skulls, the skulls on the wall, the taxidermy, all that stuff,
we're kind of death positive. It's more of giving these
animals and these people a second life, as opposed to
just throwing them in the dirt. [SCREECHING] I'm Jeremy. I'm Jeremy. And this is the
Dark Art Emporium. JEREMY SCHOTT: Dark Art
Emporium is a fine art gallery with an oddities
shop attached to it located in downtown Long Beach. We show work that
you wouldn't normally find in a typical
art gallery, stuff that flies under the
radar of the mainstream. RACHEL JORDAN: What are some
weird things you have here? I mean, other than human
skulls and pickled snakes? [LAUGHTER] The baculum is
walrus penis bone. Only at Dark Art Emporium. How does this
speak to you, Jeremy? Well, this piece is
by Vincent Castiglia, and it's painted
in his own blood.
[RECORD SCRATCH] We don't show landscapes. We don't show shell jewelry. Grandma stuff isn't
going to be here. There's no Thomas Kinkade
on the walls here. I think our art
should evoke emotion, whether it's know
repulsion or admiration. Sometimes, like the
things that are in jars, you know, and the baby chicks
kind of give me a little bit of the skin crawling. But you know, other than that, I
love everything that's in here. RACHEL JORDAN: This
is the perfect place for people who hate bugs,
because they're all dead. You know, you're going
to get people who cross themselves as they walk by. Mostly, people are
at least intrigued. They're fascinated. I think a lot of people are
often surprised at the fact that they find things that
they are enamored with here. The Dark Art Emporium
has really become the hub of our neighborhood. It brings just a really
awesome sense of what Long Beach is really about.
JEREMY CROSS: Long
Beach is the Portland of southern California, right? The keep it weird mentality
is alive and well here. And I think that's why we're
so embraced by the community. JEREMY SCHOTT: I don't know,
like cookie-cutter stuff is boring. I guess if you're a boring
person, then go to IKEA and get that Marilyn Monroe
painting that everybody has. But I mean, get something
that shows who you are, and something that
speaks to you. JEREMY CROSS: Dark
Art Emporium, we are not basic art for basic people. (LAUGHING) Yeah! [LAUGHTER] [MUSIC PLAYING].