about
AJ ''spoopy'' Rappaport (they/them) is a multimedia artist, author and self-taught and community taught tattooer from Toronto who works primarily in drawing, painting, digital art, print media and installation. spoopy holds a BFA in studio arts and their INDI (Individualized) Masters for the ethnographic study of the Super Smash Bros. Melee esports community both from Concordia University in Montreal. They self-published an adaptation of their thesis as a book called Melee is Broken. Their artwork centers themes of early internet culture with kitsch aesthetics which they often explore in juxtaposition with more natural phenomena like animals and nature.
Currently, AJ’s primary focus is their tattoo practice. Through tattooing, spoopy aims to help foster folks’ ownership, autonomy and sense of individuality for their bodies and selves. As a collector and creator of many things, spoopy seeks to apply their artistic experience to enhance the lives of their clients in all aspects of their tattoo practice. spoopy works out of see ya studio in midtown Toronto.
wrote a book
Worksite Safety Training: Bloodborne Pathogens (Completed 09/2023)
Online WHMIS Bloodborne Pathogens: Canada Body Artist Training (Completed 02/2023)
eSafety First Bloodborne Pathogens Training Certificate (Completed 09/2022)
Progressive Mentorship Tattoo Artists- Bloodborne Pathogens, Infection Prevention and Control Seminar (Completed 02/2022)
Worksite Safety Training: Bloodborne Pathogens (Completed 09/2021)
safety training
CV
2024 popcat, huh, All The Small Things, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, Canada. (Group Show)
2023 fiends, A Nightmare on Roncesvalles 2, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, Canada. (Group Show)
2023 Panelist at MAGfest 2023, Melee is Broken, National Habor, Maryland, USA.
2022 angry cat, soft cat, trash rats, and froggie prints, Under 100, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, Canada. (Group Show)
2022 snake in sack and storm cats, A Nightmare on Roncesvalles, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, Canada. (Group Show)
2022 contributing artist to Bi Bi Baby, affiliated with Pride Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
2021 Interview on "Tisk Talks" about Melee is Broken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKMEAAchwYU&ab_channel=TiskTalks
2021, volunteer & Litter Artist with a Greener Future
2021 A Note from spoopy, MAJOR Zine, Vol. 5. https://issuu.com/majorzine/docs/major-vol-5__4_
2021 Forest Scene. Animals. Grey Cube Gallery. Group show. Online. https://greycubegallery.com/current-show/index.html
2020 5 Days of Melee, Author Panel. Online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kag_5nfd9ek&ab_channel=5DaysofMelee
2020 Melee It On Me, A Big House Encore Edition: Melee is Broken Book with spoopy & Nicky. Online.
https://youtu.be/9H09dNw7M6U?t=1869
2020.Melee is Broken. with Nicole Bennett. Lulu press.
2020 House Arrest: Games Night, The Importance of Gaming, guest appearance on online web-series, presented by The House Toronto, Canada
2019 Super Smash Bros. Melee and the Holy Trinity of Residual Hardware, presented at Beyond Games: Tinkering and Creative Appropriation in Video Games in partnership with MIGS/MEGA. Montreal, Canada.
2019 Super Smash Bros. Melee as Esports: The Holy Trinity of Hardware and Active Embodiment, Poster presentation, UCI Esports Conference 2019, Irvine, California, USA
2019 What is SSBM? Arcade11, 4th Space, Concordia University, Montreal Canada
2018 What is SSBM?, Sites of Feeling, Milieux Institute, (Group Show), Montreal Canada, October 19th
2018 Untitled, featured in Miscommunication, produced by the Queer Print Club (Sponsored by FASA)
2018 RMBR ME, Mouseprint Gallery, Montreal, Canada (Solo Show)
2018 spoopy's playground, In Bloom, Eastern Bloc Gallery, Montreal, Canada (Group Show)
2017 Untitled,featured in Paper Jam (2nd edition) publication, produced
by SPA (Student Print Association of Concordia)
2017 not-so-wallpaper, INTERIM, L'ecole des Beaux Arts, Montreal, Canada, Concordia End of Year Showcase
2017 Slime Lies, TOUT INCLUS, Galerie Espace, Montreal Canada, a show from Art Matters 2017 (Group Show)
2016 death and mascara, featured in GHOST a publication by the Queer Print Club (sponsored by FASA)
2016 Untitled,Off the Block, POPOP Gallery, Montreal, Canada (Group Show)
2015 squares, Sketch Group Book Publication
2015 squares, Sketch Mouse Print Gallery Montreal, Canada
(Group Show)
2015 wait, Peachy Altelier Galerie Alain Piroir Montréal, Canada (Group Show)
2015 stars alligned, Ferme ta boîte, projet parallèle, 9e édition de la Biennale internationale d’estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières (Qc.)