BEYOND THE STREETS proudly announces LET THERE BE GWAR – a sprawling retrospective showcasing the 40-year legacy of the legendary art collective and shock rock band, GWAR. Opening September 13 and running through November 2, 2025, this exhibition is a free-to-attend deep dive into the outrageous universe that GWAR has spent four decades constructing through music, performance, and subversive visual art. Born from a group of punk musicians and visual artists working out of an abandoned dairy building in Richmond, Virginia, GWAR emerged in 1984 as a hybrid of heavy metal theatre and absurdist sci-fi mythology. Hunter Jackson, a VCU student crafting costumes for his film Scumdogs of the Universe, joined forces with musician Dave Brockie—and what began as a one-off stunt evolved into a full-blown, blood-splattered empire of art, performance and chaos. LET THERE BE GWAR chronicles this intergalactic saga through the most comprehensive assembly of GWAR artefacts ever seen. The exhibition features: Handcrafted costumes, instruments, weaponry, and stage props, video installations, monumental set pieces and spew tanks, a monster toilet, artwork, and rare ephemera. Every square inch of the gallery transformed into the GWAR universe with characters like Oderus Urungus, Techno-Destructo, BälSäc The Jaws of Death, Beefcake The Mighty, Slymenstra Hymen, Jizmak Da Gusha, Berserker Blothar, and even a crack-addicted T-Rex named Gor-Gor, just to name a few. The band has not only carved out its niche but obliterated expectations for what a musical performance can be. “For 40 years GWAR have mounted a misanthropic critique of American culture dressed up as shock rock. This collection of artefacts offers a sense of the unique punk inspired anti-art aesthetics of underground comics, science fiction fandom, role-playing games, and satirical splatter flick nerdishness at the heart of the band.” Says GWAR. | 
