Friday 05.19.17
Party: CRUISE 2.0
The Summer came back this week which is perfect timing for Cruise 2.0 to return! We’ve covered this party the past two years. Here’s what I said when I mentioned it last year: “Everyone will get laid. We just want to celebrate the fact that we’re stuck together in the city by drinking as much rum as possible and pretending we’re on a yacht. A sad, old, but cute yacht filled with LITERAL hunks and babes and queens and extremely fun music for you all...” Yeah, someone was carrying with this quote. The party is happening at Rosemont Bar in Brooklyn, which is a hot spot at the moment, Rosemont is in this letter twice (see Thursday). Music will be provided by Dick Owens, Ivenchy & Tanny Cohen. Expect “Free White Girl Rose while supplies last and epic visuals will keep you dancing until morning. Nautical, sailor, mermaid, pirate & downright fishy attire is strongly encouraged. Bring everyone you know as it’s going to be an epic night to remember!” Ok, got it.
Thursday 05.18.17
Party: BUBBLE_T
I got an email from Nick at Confetti System (Google it, they are in Brooklyn and make some cool stuff), he told me that they are throwing a new Queer Asian dance party called Bubble_T. He told me what the party is all about “Lately we’ve been feeling the urge to organize an official night that reflects the Asian/Pacific/Queer diaspora that we belong to. Its a mix of karaoke culture, Asian divas, and bubble tea that feels like home.” As far as I am concerned we need more of these type of parties, there’s just not enough diversity in our community. “It’s a Queer Asian dance party for everyone, it’s also about celebrating our diverse group of friends and our collective upbringings, lewks, references, faggotry etc... Visibility, inclusion and support are important for all of us post election.” I couldn’t agree more. Other hosts of the party include Bichon, The Henry, Pauly T, Vivianne & Jacky (from the Galbi Mermaid Inn), and Daniel & Tin (from the NYC/Vietnam based fashion collective CFGNY). Music will be provided by DJ Tito Nonon, who’ll be “serving 90’s Hip Hop and R&B meets Old School Filipino Garage party sprinkled with Pinay freestyle legend Jocelyn Enriquez and Pinay girl groups One Vo1ce and Premiere!” and DJ Skypewilliams, who’ll be “giving you highkey Latino block party, midkey gay bops & lowkey hood anthems.” Also, expect giveaways by Massive Goods and the Boba Guys (Bin and Andrew), “purveyors of gourmet bubble tea.” That’s all the_T we’ve got!
Wednesday 05.17.17
Eat: SAGE TABLE – REMINDER FOR MAY 18
You may have noticed that we have been writing about SAGE Table in previous letters and on our social channels for a while now. We have been doing everything we can to get people to participate because we think it’s a great idea. We’re joining a pretty cunty table with Whoopi Goldberg and a few other interesting individuals across the age spectrum on Thursday. The concept for SAGE Table is pretty simple. The group is committed to getting people across the country to host, or join, a multi-generational dinner party. Basically they want LGBTQ people from all ages to spend some time together. People of different ages are waaaaaay to separated in the queer community. Like, seriously, when was the last time you had a conversation with someone over the age of 50 who wasn’t your mom, day or grandma? So, here’s what we suggest you do to fix that, go to SageTable.org and sign up for a dinner. You can host it or join one already happening nearby you on Thursday May 18. It’ll be a lot of fun, I promise. If you think about it, it’s a pretty easy and enjoyable way to do some good for your community. Eat, talk, learn, let go of your fear of aging. We’re all going to get old, some just do it better than others. Be one of them.
Monday 05.15.17
Battle Hymn – 5.12.17
Sunday 05.14.17
Art: POST ANALOG PAINTING II
All of my closest friends are painters, so I’ve received what I call a second-hand arts education by sitting in on their critiques and conversations. (Maybe I am not so subtly trying to become Frank O’Hara). As I write this, I realize I’m at risk of sounding like an idiot, but as the Latin idiom goes: as in painting so is poetry, and I know poetry, so fuck it! The Hole, which is always doing something interesting, is presenting their second installment of Post-Analog Painting. The exhibition, which includes only digitally-inspired works, features contemporary populars like Trudy Benson, Austin Lee, Maja Djordjevic, Caroline Larsen and Guy Yanai; all whom I’ve been interacted with via friends or Instagram (seems appropriate for the occasion). The idiosyncratic approach and the physical materiality of painting is perhaps the most mystifying aspect of the medium. So to take on a painting show that sees painting in a post-analog state, is provocative as much as it is relevant. We live in a digital age and so many artists are consuming work via their phones; really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the hand-made has been refashioned into pixelated textures. I’m sure an art historian could point out someone else who did this years ago, but I’m feeling like a romantic. The show feels totally fresh (though a tad over-crowded). It closes Sunday! Get jiggy with it.
Mariah Dekkenga, “Untitled”, 2017, oil on linen, 51 x 37 inches, 129.5x94 cm.Mariah Dekkenga, “Untitled”, 2017, oil on linen, 51 x 37 inches, 129.5x94 cm.
Saturday 05.13.17
Party: METRO SENSUAL PRESENTS NINA BONINA LIVE
This is the most exciting news I have received this week. I am a huge fan of Nina Bonina Brown since the first episode of this season’s Rupaul’s Drag Race Season 9 when she walked down the runway with her head painted like a peach and said “take a bite of this peach.” As far as I’m concerned, Nina should be the winner of this season or at least top 3. I’ve never seen any queen with this approach to makeup and that padding...her looks are just nuts in the best possible way. Again, Frankie Sharp brings us another Rupaul’s Drag Race queen to his party Metro Sensual at Metropolitan. Thank You Frankie. He’s also Djing with La’Fem Ladosha and Dicap. Plus, “$en$ual gent$” Nico, Richard and Teo — they are going to be shaking their asses on stage just so we can have some extra entertainment. I’m hoping that Nina gives us another look with a fruit, an animal, or some other object as her head. It’s Nina Bonina banana fofana Osama Bin Laden Brown boom boom.
BABY T(EASTER)
Presented by The Dauphine of Bushwick and Wise Men with music by Maya Mones and Boy Georgia. Plus, performances by The Dauphine and Claudia Cliffer. Special Guest host Charlene and Birthday BB Ross Leonardy!
Friday 05.12.17
Palomo Spain A/W 2017 Campaign
The latest campaign from Madrid's most promising house
In T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland,” the poet states “April is the cruelest month.” Why, exactly, is open to interpretation, but because springtime is the most transitory moment in the calendar year, April, with all of its wetness and rebirth, can seem relentless rather than fruitful. Alejandro Gómez Palomo understands this. His Spring / Summer 2017 collection for Palomo Spain, “Boy Walks In Exotic Forest,” was full of gorgeous draping and menswear that had severe movement. His large hats and playful textiles seemed to alert the fashion world to a major switch. Palomo seemed to understand that come spring, the world would be ready to change.
We were.
In September, Palomo Spain presented “Objecto Sexual” to an intimate crowd of New York editors and party-goers, much to the delight of everyone at the Cadillac House. The collection was high-romantic, with embellished blazers that glistened as his models sauntered down the runway wearing Converse. It seemed that with each look, the collection was breathing: some looks were as necessary as an inhale, others were as relieving as a sigh. His models were done up like dolls — glossy cheeks, wet hair, and all boyish looking in Palomo’s clothing. But besides the couture finishes on nearly all of the looks, “Objecto Sexual” seemed to perpetuate an essence that was deliberately and unapologetically foppish.
The brand’s most recent AW17 campaign takes this idea and confirms what everyone already knew: Palomo is not playing. Featuring what Palomo calls “Four Profiles” of his dandy-man, the campaign reminds us yet again that springtime is the cruelest; we have spent the winter in layers and are dying to blossom. …
Party: LUCKY PIERRE
For those of you that don’t know, Lucky Pierre “is the guy in the middle of an Eiffel Tower. He’s having the most fun.” I guess the ultimate goal of this party is to ended up in between two people, it’s probably the right goal for this Spring/Summer 2017. Paul Musial (who used to be one of the organizers of Pretty Ugly) told me about this brand new party called Lucky Pierre. The party is happening at Bedlam in the East Village, we are very familiar with this location because we used to throw our Interracial party there a few years back. It’s a cosy place, it can be very fun as long as it’s gay. Trust me, I’ve been there some nights when the bar is full of drunk white girls, it’s not right. Paul thinks Bedlam is the right location for Lucky Pierre, “the size of the space is that Goldie locks, not too small not too big, just right...Not a top 40s Friday night. It’s disco and rock, but all danceable...” Other’s involved with the event are Mason McCarthy Hughes, James Everett, Servando Rosario IV and 9Rob. You have no excuse to score that threesome. You can do it!
Thursday 05.11.17
EXPERIENCE MINDFULNESS, MOVEMENT & MATCHA – MATCHA PARTY
You may have heard that matcha is currently all the rage. I’m not sure how on board I am, but it’s very much in fashion. The way these food trends start are so foreign to me. My assumption is that Facebook or Tasty must have played some role in launching the current craze over this southeast Asian specialty. “Matcha madness has officially taken over – it’s being experimented with in a variety of delicious culinary applications across the five boroughs and beyond.” When I first tried matcha, I was 16 and with my very best friend whose Indian household had, and still does have, the sickest tea collection. She whipped us up some lattés (under her mom’s supervision) and we were lit. This was the cusp of Instagram’s popularity and we all had DSLR cameras, so we were hyped to be taking really poorly composed photos of this aesthetically pleasing cup of green.
Now you can get it at your local pour-over coffee shop and they’ll make sure one of those stylish leaves are milked into it. Ah, sweet commodification. Ceci Cela, which is around the corner from the GAYLETTER office, does a frozen version that will turn you out when you’re hungover or just bored. This is about as far as I’ve ventured into “matcha madness.” If you’re unfamiliar with the drink or just looking to jump on the band-wagon, Baba Cool is hosting an event that will incorporate a traditional matcha ceremony (not sure what this entails to be honest) with what they call the “modern Brooklyn influences (read: hip hop dancers and other local flourishes).” …
Monday 05.08.17
Tom of Finland Towels
Cotton on deck from Tom of Finland and Finlayson
Today, May 8th, is Tom of Finland’s birthday! Touko Valio Laaksonen, who was a forefather of gay style in both his art and his life, was born in 1920 in Kaarina, Finland. Inspired by increasing interest in biker-culture during the post-World War II era, Tom submitted some of his drawings to Bob Mizer’s then popular Physique Pictorial. Mizer premiered Tom’s drawings in the 1957 Spring issue, and the rest is gay history. We’ve been lucky enough to publish both artists, securing their place in gay history and sharing them with our wide-range of international readers.
As Durk Dehner (Tom’s former partner and current custodian of the TOM House in Los Angeles) tells us in our most recent, Issue 6: “Tom’s whole thing was to make these drawings speak for themsevels, with a voice to really nurture and encourage fellow homosexuals to be proud and to be free. As he would say, ‘I didn’t sit down to think all this out carefully, but I knew – right from the start – that my men were going to be proud and happy men!’”
GAYLETTER has long promoted Tom of Finland in any way we can. His ubiquitous style is everywhere if you look hard enough, and it’s been our mission as well as our pleasure to keep his style alive while giving him endless credit for what is now his quintessential vision. (ToF holds a special place in my gay heart. Their collaboration with Finnish design studio Finlayson was my very first GAYLETTER post. …
Saturday 05.06.17
Event: Night at the Museum – Rites of Spring
This looks like a lot of fun. MoMA PS1 is hosting their annual Frieze Art Fair party this Saturday night in Long Island City. “Join MoMA PS1’s annual Frieze Week party! The museum comes to life after sundown with ‘Rites of Spring’ — inspired performances by The Dance Cartel, a DJ set by Bae Bro, access to five new exhibitions, cocktails, bites by M. Wells, and more.” You get all that for only $15, plus there’s a bunch of art on display to look at including: Ian Cheng: EMISSARIES, Maureen Gallace: Clear Day, Tomáš Rafa: New Nationalisms, A BIT OF MATTER: The MoMA PS1 Archives, 1976–2000 and Past Skin. We sell GAYLETTER Magazine at the NY Art Book Fair every year at MoMA PS1, so we’re intimately acquainted with the space. It’s kind of a magical building. At night, with music and booze and art and cute people it should really come alive. Get your tickets ASAP.
