Thursday 08.25.16
BABY TEA : FIRE ISLAND 2.0
The Dauphine of Bushwick and Tommy & Victor present Baby Tea Fire Island! Music by Lemon Verbena and Qossip Qurl. Performances by Merrie Cherry, Patti Spliff, Claudia Cliffer and The Dauphine. Hosted by Mamma San Kazuko and Casey Spooner.
Wednesday 08.24.16
Film: Embrace of the Serpent
There’s too many events happening in this week that are the “last for the summer.” Aghh, I hate that term! Case in point is Wednesday’s final screening for the outdoor film series that has taken place at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City all summer. The film, Embrace of the Serpent, has a 99% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It tells the story of “a young shaman (Nilbio Torres) in the Colombian Amazon” who “helps a sick German explorer (Jan Bijvoet) and his local guide (Miguel Dionisio Ramos) search for a rare healing plant.” It’s set in the early 1990’s, and is apparently very beautifully shot and brilliantly acted. This event is a no-brainer. Not only do you get to see an amazing film, but you get to do it in one of NYC’s most unique settings. The Socrates Sculpture Park is filled with all kinds of clever exhibit sculptures and multi-media installations. The summer is unfortunately winding up, don’t miss a minute of it!
Adam’s Nest Presents: Nathan Rapport
Rapport’s artwork is now on view at the store Adam’s Nest in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Nathan Rapport creates beautiful and erotic scenes using colors that are as queer as his subjects. I mean, it’s not everyday that you get to see multicolored pubes. Beginning on Friday, August 19th, you’ll be able to catch Rapport’s artwork on view at the store, Adam’s Nest in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The show is titled “I Won’t Decorate My Love,” and Nathan himself will be at the opening night reception.
A multitalented artist who splits his time between Texas and California, Rapport gained national notoriety with his queer adult coloring book, “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me.” The coloring book, along with shirts designed by Nathan, can all be found in the Adam’s Nest online store. The t-shirts feature designs such as “Blousy Top,” “Butt Pirate” and a dude with a dick stuffed in his mouth captioned, “Enjoy the Silence.”
The show coincides with Carnival week, one of the biggest outdoor celebrations in Massachusetts. The Provincetown Carnival attracts a crowd of over 90,000 people all coming together to celebrate queerness. Going along with this year’s Carnival theme of “Back to the ‘80s,” Adam’s Nest is also selling Gran Fury’s Act Up t-shirts, with a portion of the profits going to support the Ali Forney Center.
Adam’s Nest opened up in June of this year and proudly features art, apparel and everything in between. In their own words, “We believe in love, equality, and to live by the ‘golden rule.’ …
Tuesday 08.23.16
Center Talks Presents: Edmund White
Join the celebrated author Edmund White as he discusses his latest novel, “Our Young Man.”
If you are queer and literate you should know the name Edmund White. If you don’t, at least have the common decency to pretend and make sure you come hear him speak at the NYC’s LGBT Community Center on August 23rd. Edmund White’s career has spanned over 40 years and included 25 books of fiction, nonfiction and memoir. Most notable is the widely celebrated gay coming-of-age story (and my personal favorite) “The Beautiful Room is Empty,” as well as the sex manual turned cult classic, “The Joy of Gay Sex.” The Center is hosting White for a reading and discussion of his latest book, “Our Young Man.” The book just so happened to have been reviewed by Leo Racicot for our latest issue of GAYLETTER. Racicot writes:
“White’s novel is primarily the story of Guy, a beautiful boy from a poor French town. Fortunately for Guy, his perfect face and golden body pull him from what might otherwise be a grim fate. He ascends the shimmering heights of high fashion, first in Paris, then New York, and finds himself in a fast-paced, drug-fueled world where loathsome old toads pay big bucks for a young man’s company, while detractors wait and watch for their friends and enemies to fail. Looks and self-maintenance are everything; gaining so much as an ounce could earn you the moniker ‘Miss Piggy.’
Guy, recognizing all this, reminds us of the classic caveat so popular in those days: ‘If you’re not good looking, you’d damn well better be funny, and if you’re neither of those, you’d better be a slut.’ …
Sunday 08.21.16
Event: Wigstock: The Cruise
One of the GAYLETTER boys asked me if this was worth a mention in this week’s newsletter and at first I was like nahhhh, but then I saw that the legendary drag queen Lady Bunny was involved, so I went back to give it another look. Lady Bunny was doing drag before I was born. She was involved in the original Wigstock, which was an outdoor drag festival that happened in the 1980s in Manhattan’s East Village — there’s an amazing documentary about it, google it, you must watch it. RuPaul is in it, the film is cunt! This event is presented by Sea Tea - New York’s Gay Party Cruise and it’s one night only. Lady Bunny brings us an amazing line-up of entertainers including Jimmy James, Michael West, Connie Fleming, Glamamore (aka David More), Juanita More, John Kelly as Joni Mitchell (amazing!), Tabboo! aka Stephen Tashjian Dueling Bankheads with David Ilku, Clark Render and “a real blast from the past” Ebony Jett from San Francisco. I mean, yassssssssss. Music will be provided by Johnny Dynell and Ed Bailey. The cruise departs from Pier 40, it boards at 6:00PM, sailing at 7:30PM and returning at 10:00PM — also, it includes a complimentary buffet dinner. Tickets will be also sold at Village Apothecary (West 10th Street & Bleecker). Now that I think about it, this sounds pretty amazing.
Saturday 08.20.16
JAMES UNSWORTH – N.S.F.L.
James Unsworth’s art is very dark, and sexy and fucked up in the best possible ways. Known for exploring “the subjects of sex, death, food and grand faggotory” in his work, the London based artist, has acquired fans far and wide. This Saturday, August 20, at Printed Matter Inc.
Unsworth will debut his first U.S. solo exhibition titled ‘N.S.F.L.’ It “will include original drawings from Unsworth’s first two publications; Ninja Turtle Sex Museum and Dead Boys alongside sketches, reference material, prints and ephemera relating to these drawings.”
Apparently James will be onsite to sign copies of both publications. We chatted with Printed Matter’s Shannon Michael Caine about the show and he told us that there are also “over a 100 original drawings for sale and riso editioned prints start at $20.” He also mentioned that there will be “beer and boys.” He knows us too well. We’re looking forward to it.
Free, 5:00-7:00pm, Printed Matter, 231 11th Ave. New York, NY. …
Friday 08.19.16
Film: FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
I just spent the last ten minutes watching Meryl Streep interviews on YouTube. That woman gives me life! Even in interviews she commits to the role. She has an all-or-nothing quality that makes her irresistible to watch. Meryl herself has referred to this quality in a recent interview she gave to the Wall Street Journal: “There’s that great Vincent Van Gogh quote: ‘I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.’ That’s the aspiration.” She certainly lives up to Vincent’s motto in Florence Foster Jenkins, her latest film about the 1940’s socialite, and terrible singer, of the same name. Florence had great confidence in her voice, even buying out Carnegie Hall for a concert, despite the fact that she was unable to ever hit the right notes. Meryl has great fun singing badly in the movie and director Stephen Fryers turns up the campiness to 1000. This film is great fun. It’s a perfect summer pick-me-up, Meryl carries from start to finish!
Thursday 08.18.16
Party: Femmequerade Ball – Party to Cure Toxic Masculinity
If you’re still unconvinced that toxic masculinity is an epidemic plaguing our country, please take a moment and Google, “Trump rally.” Are we now all on the same page? While identifying the problem is Step 1, what to do next is a bit trickier. Luckily the brains behind Femmequerade Ball have an answer: “We aim to create a space free of toxic masculinity, where all are liberated to fearlessly dance and love themselves. We believe that if we lovingly spread a hate of cis masculinity, we can manifest self-love in all ppl through the domination of femmenergy.” Quite literally a “feminine Masquerade Ball,” people are encouraged to attend in costume or at least wear a mask. The Ball is hosted by Mima Good and the long list of performers include Jay Boogie (pictured), my friend Zenobia and my other friend’s sister Ashni (impressed that I could somehow make this about me?). Tickets are available in advance at a reduced price, and also at the door. Best of all, cis white straight men will be charged $3 extra because, well, they should be. Come out Thursday night and join the fight to find a cure.
Wednesday 08.17.16
‘New Hampshire’ by PWR BTTM
The band's originally scrapped track gets a well-received release
The first thing I do when I get to the GAYLETTER office is (after wiping a lot of sweat off my face) sit down and open Facebook like the good millennial I suppose I am. It’s always exciting to realize I have been awake for four hours and the morning’s news might as well be something that happened two weeks ago. So much happens when I am getting my beauty sleep! It’s really fascinating how time works. So cray-cray, right? There is always something new, exciting and stupid to read on Facebook. Yesterday was a little different though.
As Frank Ocean continues to teach us, disgruntled fans are not the look. Releasing new music is vital to taming your fandom. PWR BTTM knows how to treat their fans better than any other band. Liv Bruce and Ben Hopkins have had quite the year. We were thrilled to publish them in Issue 4 of GAYLETTER, and since featuring them in the mag, they’ve been written about by NPR, MTV, Pitchfork, and countless other major sources, all while on a major tour supporting the indie-emo fave, Pity Sex. Both members have extreme passion for inclusivity and spend the necessary time snapping photos with their glitter-clad fans after shows. They have an active (often politically charged) social media presence that keeps their fans engaged, interested and above all else, heard by the duo. Most importantly, they made sure every venue they played provided gender neutral restrooms for those attending their shows. …
Event: +POOL Summer Pool Party
Who doesn’t loves a good pool party? Abi, myself and this bitch Wilhelmina Read (Miss Belgrade Lakes 2015) were in Mt. Kisko (pictured) a few weeks ago for Cockyboy Liam Riley’s birthday. The weather was really perfect. Sunny, 90 — the pool was lit and our weed went in deep. Sometimes I forget I’m 21, but let’s just say losing my flip-flops and drinking rosé straight from the bottle helped me remember I’m def full of youth and highly susceptible to an overindulgent experience. Anyway, there is another pool party coming up and I’m thinking of giving my wasted pool boy role a reprise! “It’s gonna be INSANE: hosted by Alessandra Balazs, Joshua David, Andrew Essex, Ariel Foxman, Jon Oringer, Lockhart Steele and Emily Weiss, music by Ben + Callan from Lemonade and Lloydski from Tiki Disco” and more. “The event gathers the amazing artists, designers, architects, environmentalists, swimmers, urban planners, water lovers, government leaders, and social impact investors, working to better our city through projects.” Groundbreaking. All proceeds support the development of + POOL and its free public and educational programs. They’re trying to put a floating pool in the fucking river. It’s an expensive event, but it’s a benefit. Text your sugar daddy!
Tuesday 08.16.16
Opening Reception: Olympic Favela by Marc Ohrem-Leclef
It may come as a shock for you to learn that the Olympics are going on right now in Rio de Janeiro. Or that I just had to google the proper spelling of “Janeiro.” While Olympic coverage is everywhere we look, what’s presented is mostly the shiny, hand-holding Olympics that we’re taught to believe in as children. When mainstream news outlets cover more controversial stories, they’re almost always about environmental issues. These stories are obviously important but are only given airtime because they affect foreign athletes. Stories about less significant people (read: poor) are much harder to come by and artist Marc Ohrem-Leclef is doing what he can to change that.
With his project ‘Olympic Favela,’ Ohrem-Leclef documents how the residents of 14 Rio favelas (Brazilian urban slums) have been affected by both the Olympic games and the World Cup. Forced from their homes in order to entertain the rest of the world, Marc captures the struggle and perseverance of these brave displaced families through both photo and video. While his work has already been internationally recognized, it’s on view for the first time in New York at the BAXTER ST Gallery as part of the 2016 Annual Juried Exhibition.
The show, curated by Mickalene Thomas, will be having an opening reception tomorrow that features a screening of the Olympic Favela accompanying film. The documentary centers around two families from Favela Vila Autodromo who are relocated and end up having to deal with two very different fates. …
Sunday 08.14.16
Event: Walking tour of the famous and infamous in the Meatpacking District
Efrain John Gonzales (fun name) is a licensed tour guide, and he’s offering a unique experience — the chance to take a tour “of the old Meatpacking District and High Line park when it was the wild and crazy capital of underground clubs from the 70’s all the way to the dawn of the 21st century.” Efrain will show you where “the vanished underground clubs and vaults used to exist and illustrate their stories and legends” with his “personal photographs, taken in places that were famous and infamous, long before it all changed from a sleazy, trashy meat processing block that was home to biker bars and hookers, to an elegant tourist resort with 5 star hotels and exclusive restaurants.” The tour goes for 90 minutes and is sure to be fascinating look at a site of great importance to the LGBTQ community over the last 40 years. Click here for more tour dates.
