Beast Jesus and Two Fridas Win Hyperallergic's Halloween Costume Contest

Two attendees dressed as Las Yeguas del Apocalipsis took Best in Show at Hyperallergic's annual Halloween costume party, held Wednesday, October 28, at Oberon in Brooklyn. Emilio Rojas and Chico Raro portrayed Pedro Lemebel and Francisco Casa Silva of the Chilean collective's "Las Dos Fridas" (1989). As the outlet put it, "No bribing was necessary to convince the panel."

Almost 200 members, readers, artists and supporters turned out. The contest categories ran from "Best in Show" to "Most Likely to Get Censored in Florida" — a name that does its own critical work.

Who won the other categories?

The prize list leaned heavily toward the esoteric:

• Most Esoteric: Zoë Lescaze and Michael Rossi, who made every part of their costumes from scratch — "yes, including the chair" — as lesser-known figures from Francisco Goya's Los caprichos (1797–98).
• Most Likely to Get Censored in Florida: a take on Richard Prince's "Wayward Nurse" (2005), from the series critiquing the sexualization of nurses on pulp-fiction covers.
• Most Likely to Get Acquired by a Museum Unironically: curators and staff from the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, New York, recreating George Grosz's antifascist "Eclipse of the Sun" (1926) from their own collection.
• People's Choice: Melissa Brown and Marie Lorenz as the botched "Ecce Homo" fresco — aka "Beast Jesus" — and its restorer, Cecilia Giménez Zueco.

What did the insiders wear?

The staff costumes set the tone. Editor-in-Chief Hakim Bishara addressed the crowd after what the outlet called "a very competitive contest"; his own costume remains unexplained.

Staff Writer Anna Lee appeared as Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (c. 1665), rendered otherworldly by photographer Zac Thompson's double exposure. Staff Writer Rhea Nayyar went as Snoopy for the fourth consecutive year — a costume she calls her "magnum opus."

"I made this Snoopy costume with stuff that I already had at home — the ears, spot, and tail were from an old black tee; I painted an old beauty blender black and used it as Snoopy's nose," Nayyar said. "There's something about Snoopy's cheeky attitude and ridiculous antics that flips the script on the 'man's best friend' marker, which I find really liberating and inspirational."

Co-founders Veken Gueyikian and Hrag Vartanian dressed as Malevich's "Black Square" (1915) and a 17th-century Dutch still life, skull included. Memento mori, as the outlet noted — very Halloween-coded.

How deep did the references go?

Deeper than most. Marina Abramović and Ulay inspired two separate costumes, neither of them the obvious piece: "Rest Energy" (1980) and Clara Maria Apostolatos with her partner embodying "Relation in Time" (1977). Guests also staged a gory "Saturn Devouring His Son" (1820–23), Linda Ganjian became Eva Hesse's rope sculpture "No title" (1970), and artist Coco Fusco wore a work from Marisol's wearable wooden sculpture "Three Women with Umbrella" (1965–66).

The classics got their due too. A group of seven — Will Swanson, Dwai, Cosette Patterson, Lauren Blaser, Shelby Roller, Sophia Tedesco and Daniela Alonso — recreated Cassius Marcellus Coolidge's "A Friend in Need" (1903), the definitive Dogs Playing Poker canvas. Emily Dotsikas of Alma Communications channeled Roy Lichtenstein's "Drawing Girl" (1963).

Other notables: Jennifer Samet as Peggy Guggenheim; Cheryl Hageman, deputy director of MTA Arts & Design, as a Georgia O'Keeffe Sky Above Clouds (1960–77) painting; contributors Julie Schneider as a Keith Haring subway drawing and Daniela Mayer as an AI girlfriend; and artist Danielle De Jesus, who answered the question plainly: "I'm a broke MFA student!" — complete with a Whitney Museum artist lifetime pass.

Judges included critic Aruna D'Souza, artist Jia Sung as the Spirit of Spirit Airlines, Congressional candidate Claire Valdez, and Nicholas D. Lowry of Swann Auction Galleries, dressed, per the outlet, "as a fashionable pumpkin in plaid." With this level of craft on display, next year's bar — like the still life's skull — is already set.