Joseph Vergel "Joe" Riley (February 26, 1964 â€" September 27, 2007)
was an American visual and plastic artist based in Dallas, Texas. A
painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and special effects makeup artist, he
made horror designs for latex masks and for films, such as the 2004
superhero film Blade: Trinity from Marvel Comics, as well as
conceptual art for children's animated series, such as Nickelodeon's
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.Joseph Vergel Riley was born on February
26, 1964, in Dallas County, Texas, U.S. His father was Rev. George
Vergel Riley (alive as of 2009[update]) and his mother Robbie Jean
Riley (August 16, 1927 â€" 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 effects 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."
was an American visual and plastic artist based in Dallas, Texas. A
painter, sculptor, filmmaker, and special effects makeup artist, he
made horror designs for latex masks and for films, such as the 2004
superhero film Blade: Trinity from Marvel Comics, as well as
conceptual art for children's animated series, such as Nickelodeon's
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.Joseph Vergel Riley was born on February
26, 1964, in Dallas County, Texas, U.S. His father was Rev. George
Vergel Riley (alive as of 2009[update]) and his mother Robbie Jean
Riley (August 16, 1927 â€" 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 effects 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."
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