Tuesday 10.11.16
Josh McNey’s Olympia, Volume I.
Josh McNey has released his debut book of photography, Olympia, Volume I. The book features model Joe D. Martinez embodying what it means to be an American Man in various cities around the country. Don’t worry we already found Joe on Instagram so you can all properly stalk him.
A 140-page exploration of American masculinity, Olympia features Martinez in notable cities such as New York, Las Vegas and, of course, Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. McNey positions his model as the everyman; a cowboy, a surfer, a party boy. All versions of the same guy mirroring his outward appearance to his geographic setting. What these men have in common is that their self-presentation reads as “confident and fitting.” Well that, and that they all have cute butts. While it is deliberately unclear whether McNey is critiquing, or simply celebrating, our country’s reverence for masculinity, it is clear that these are truly beautiful photographs.
McNey is an artist and creative director based out of New York and Los Angeles. Originally from California, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and then went on to get his degree from Columbia University. His photographs can be seen in art and fashion magazines around the world.
I’m personally curious to see what the next two installments of Olympia bring, but until then you can check out more of Josh’s work on his Instagram and pick up your own copy of Volume I here.
Below is a preview of the book:
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Monday 10.10.16
TOM OF FINLAND ART & CULTURE FESTIVAL 2016
Scenes from the weekend at Tom's House in Los Angeles
Saturday 10.08.16
SAY NO TO PRO-DONALD TRUMP “ART” SHOW
The ignorant, arrogant, moronic, privileged, attention-whore Lucian Wintrich is taking his #daddywillsaveus #twinksfortrump “art” show bullshit to BK this weekend — they are even having an after-party/pro-Trump celebration. I mean, where the fuck are the parents of this kid? Of course we can all chose to ignore this event, but it’s a bit hard to ignore it when it has become such a talked about thing. I mean Trump might not hate gay people, but the party he is a head of is clearly anti-LGBT. Some of you might think it’s best to not even discuss this and ignore the stupid kid, but I think it might be also nice to show up there and protest and hopefully close down the event. We also heard that the kid is exhibiting some images of these “twinks-for-Trump” without their consent, so that also means that he’s pretending that all of these kids are pro-Trump, when I know that many of them are not.
Pablo Torres posted this on Facebook about the protest: “I think any action is valid. I find it difficult to accept staying at home while they are partying and celebrating what they call art. I work on myself to accept any form of expression, but it all changes when one of the leaders of the exhibition publicly attacks people of color and uses our vulnerabilities to turn LGBTQI people against each other.” The artist Gio Black Peter has a different, but equally valid point: “these talentless hacks feed on attention — best fuck you is to ignore them and their event — a better protest is to spend your time making anti-fascist art that promotes queers, women, people of color, trans lives…” Another boy Damon Stang, also had a good point: “shaming the venue online might be a very interesting strategy though…” I’d say we can take some action and stop or interrupt this event, maybe just bringing a few anti-Trumps signs, just avoid any physical altercations. …
Wednesday 10.05.16
‘Queer ‘90s,’ A Snapshot of the Watershed Decade in Cinema
I heard from a few people that I must check out the newish Cinema Metrograph in the Lower East Side. My friend Charlie Kuder is always like “I’m heading to Metrograph, are you coming? It’s a great place.” Their ‘About’ page says that “Metrograph is a unique experience of seeing prestigious films; of stepping into a special, curated world of cinema, a world of hospitality harkening back to the great New York movie theaters of the 1920s…” You can have a proper cocktail, have a bite, they even have a bookstore — it’s the perfect excuse to wear something cute for the theater.
This week they are opening their ‘Queer ‘90s’ series, which features over 30 films that they’ll be showing until October 30th. “The 1990s was a watershed decade for the visibility of queer bodies in independent, documentary, experimental, and studio films. The emergence of “New Queer Cinema,” a movement of filmmakers reacting to the rightward shift in culture and the specter of the AIDS plague, produced formally radical and political works about and specifically for LGBT audiences…” This sounds absolutely marvelous, I can’t think of a better fit for GAYLETTER. We’ll be going there a lot for the rest of the month.
Poison (1991).
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO, METROGRAPH, 7 LUDLOW ST. NY, NY. …
Tuesday 10.04.16
Marilyn: Character Not Image
Whoopi Goldberg Curates a Personal Showcase of the Actress' Life
You know, I think when I first took Marilyn Monroe seriously was when My Week With Marilyn was coming out in 2011 and Michelle Williams was on the cover of Vogue dressed as Monroe herself. I was gay and in high school, so I really thought American Vogue was the end-all be-all, but shade aside, many of my interests came about from flipping through Anna’s pages pre-doing-everything-at-Condé Nast. For example, in Vogue is where I first learned that beyond the beauty, Marilyn Monroe desperately wanted to be an incredible actress. Being a theater kid myself, I thought that fact to be depressing. I wondered why no one ever spoke about her go-getter attitude, only of her beauty. I found the former so much more appealing. Monroe studied method acting at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and his wife Paula. She often cried when she couldn’t get a monologue, or scene right.
I feel that in Monroe’s case, attaching the word icon to her for an introductory label smears over a lot of who she was. Since her death, Monroe’s image is arguably the most recognizable, yet no one cares about her story. Women just want to look like her. Men just want to touch her breasts.
Thank god for Whoopi Goldberg. Seriously. She’s curated a new exhibit at New Jersey’s cultural center Mana Contemporary, showcasing the interiority of Monroe the person; not the iconic face. “The image of Marilyn Monroe the icon endures and strengthens as time goes by, but her personal life remains a mystery,’ says Whoopi Goldberg. …
Monday 10.03.16
BABY TEA : 9/25
The Dauphine of Bushwick X Wise Men: BABY TEA back-to-school special!! Music by Adi J and Claudia De Chalon! Tea set winner and bday gal, Adi!!