GAYLETTER

Besides ancient Greece, New York is the place most famous for homoerotic art and photography. This is a city where many queer artists who felt ostracized growing up came to find acceptance and freedom. “Led by boundary-pushing artist Robert Mapplethorpe and his patron Sam Wagstaff, alongside pioneering contemporaries George Dureau and Peter Hujar, homoerotic photography found its way into New York City galleries and museums in the 1970s. Join the Museum along with the SVA Photography Department for a conversation about this moment in art history, moderated by critic Philip Gefter. We’ll spotlight the gay men who helped establish the art market for photography during this era and delve into themes of our new exhibition, Gay Gotham.” This sounds like a fascinating talk, and a much better way to spend your Friday night than happy hour drinks at the Boiler Room. Although it only goes until 9:00PM, so there’s always time for those drinks after. Listening makes me thirsty. Xoxo Gossip Girl.  —tom

ADA0002 is a robot artist who the public can pose for. It will create an artwork, a portrait of you, that you can take home. The show explores themes around technology and art such as “...what happens when, through technological means of perception, automata are able to create with greater precision than their human counterparts? How will creativity be affected when an augmented human or AI can distinguish spectra of light and color that are beyond our native biological abilities? Through the frame of the art world, VISIONAIRE’s AUTOPORTRAIT seeks to ruminate on such assertions.” This fascinating exhibition runs from Oct 13 to the 26th. “Using image processing algorithms, the artist — who is itself synthetic — stylistically synthesizes the image of its audience, transforming the viewer from a tangible being into processed computer data and back into a unique physical object/artwork. This artifact can be hung on the walls of the subjects’ homes, thus completing the cycle of this new artistic paradigm.” The era of robotics is nearly upon us. Are you ready?  —tom

We mentioned Bromo earlier this year — back in April when the party was brand new — but a few people I know are really into it. If you are in NYC and are starting to feel the cold weather, it’s the right time to go and warm yourself up on the dance floor and possibly find a cuddle buddy, at least for that night. The party is brought to us by Butched (Joey Quinones and JT Almon, pictured) who are also Djing along with Mauro Feola (Beitola, Berlin) and a “special performance” by Angelica Bess of Body Language. Hosts for the night are Oscar Ouk, Jor-El Garcia and Sean Bennett. As we told you last time it’ll be “heavy on the techno” and they are promising “to deliver their friendly blend of fucked-out techno and maddening house tracks all night long for this mid-week debauchery.” It’s a party for “bromos, their friends, and their lovers.” Sounds super fun for a Wednesday night. Everyone is welcome — like always!  —Abi

Fleabag is a new Amazon show by British comedian Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She is a young woman in London with an acerbic wit and a broken heart. Dealing with the death of her best friend, and business partner, she expresses her grief by sleeping with as many men as she possibly can. She isn’t looking for love, she is looking for someone to fuck the pain away. While that may sound like a tantalizing, yet depressing set-up for a show, Fleabag is actually one of the funniest series I have seen in a long time. Phoebe Waller-Bridge based the series on her popular one woman play and I’m assuming she’s based much of the character on herself. What’s been noted most about the show are the private asides she does to camera in pretty much every scene. Some people have said these are distracting, but I think the use of them is clever, and in the context of this show, quite original. I know there’s about a billion new TV shows that you’ve been meaning to watch, but Fleabag only goes for 6 episodes, and I suggest you add it to the top of your ‘must-see’ list right away, it’s that good.  —tom

We just spent a weekend at the Tom Of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles. It was a very cool experience, we literally slept in Tom of Finland’s bed! The foundation is a mecca for erotic art. They have a library with the biggest collection of erotic art in the world. Which is why this event immediately jumped out to me. Featuring over 60 artists, the Dirty Little Drawings exhibition started in 2003 as an opportunity for collectors to buy affordable art from many of the artists featured at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. This year there is a “dizzying array of original erotic art works...No two of these artists approach their work or represent masculinity in exactly the same way, whether the subject is portrayed as a heroic figure, a love object or an objectified play thing. Each artist executes his drawing with keen insight, skill and sensitivity revealing the evolving way we view the male figure as an object of desire.” This is sure to be a popular event, so much so that to ease overcrowding they will not be serving refreshments. We suggest you grab a drink beforehand then head on over to pick up some sexy drawings while you’re still a little buzzed.  —tom

Amber Martin is a dear friend to GAYLETTER. We have written about her performances at Joe’s Pub and with Nath Ann Carrera as part of Witch Camp. Amber even performed as Reba McEntire at one of our Pride Balls. She is immensely talented and super sweet. She reached out to us recently to inform us about the release of her new album, A.M. Gold, at Joe’s Pub this Thursday night (October 6). The album features “special guests Jake Shears and Kate Bornstein, as well as NYC players Claudia Chopek, Nath Ann Carrera, Paul Leschen and Brett Every. Also, two of the songs will be featured in John Cameron Mitchell’s forthcoming movie, How To Talk To Girls At Parties, with Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning. (“Bermuda” and “Bright Lights, Long Shadows”)". Thursday night is your first chance to hear the new album. Considering the talented people involved in it, I’m sure it’ll be a night filled with famous faces and unforgettable performances. Amber never disappoints!  —tom