EXCITING A BLUSH

Autumnal is a new baby with lots of promise. Formed by six of Australia’s youngest independent artists on the creative block (Laura Boynes, Dean Cross, Angela Goh, Chrissy Norford, Eleanor Wood and Patricia Wood) all of Canberra fame and all bringing a nice sizzle to the performance art and contemporary dance sector. Exciting a Blush was the debut of Autumnal and the choreographic debut for Autumnal member Angela Goh, its Sydney season was held at PACT Theater in Erskineville after a season in Canberra at the QL2 Theater.


Exciting a Blush was an investigation into the human action of the blush, exploring the ideas of social interaction and sexual awakening; this concept came together extremely well. The main concepts of sexual investigation risked becoming overly erotic and detracting from the movement vocabulary; however Goh’s wonderfully considered treatment of this theme allowed for a work which fluctuated between intense sexual desire and an innocent exploratory journey between young lovers. Similarly this was reflected in Goh’s choreography which can be at one point an exploration into tiny detail and in moments transform into ferociously accomplished technical manoeuvres. A particular highlight of this would be the fantastically climatic solo by Dean Cross in the concluding moments of this piece.


The grittiness which was demonstrated in this performance was also reflected in the sparse backdrop which adorned PACT theater. Eerily hanging picture frames and the curiously feathered owl atop the head of one of the artists added an extra element which led itself to consider the work out of the frame of a ‘contemporary dance piece’. Although obviously executed on a tight budget, this hardly detracted from the work itself; rather it was endearing and touching to see the great dedication of Autumnal in getting this show off the ground, let alone touring it to two different locations.


The cast of the show threw themselves into this work with gusto, of particular note was the collaboration between Autumnal and classically trained vocalist Eleanor Wood. Often taking this path of the ‘outsider’ collaboration in a dance piece can end up looking tacky, ill considered and embarrassing for audience and cast alike. However, Wood stood out as a highlight of the show and it is a fantastic complement to Goh who has evidently invested a lot of time into the technical training of Wood and also the thematic interactions between the cast members which made this work so well.

Exciting A Blush was everything a new performance by early career artists should be. Refreshingly engaging in a way that better funded and mid to late career companies and artists can never be. The choreography of Angela Goh and the execution by the cast has been a wonderfully positive debut for Autumnal. Be sure to remember the name.


CONTACT AUTUMNAL

Media Enquiries: Chrissy Norford: c.norford@gmail.com
FACEBOOK

OR

Keep posted with Autumnal happenings on SNP.

FOR THE NIGHTOWL.

Nightshifters is a site- specific exhibition which opens tomorrow at Carriage Works in Redfern. It is apart of the Liveworks festival at Carriage Works / Performance Space and we at somenewplace are quite aroused.

Some of the favorites to keep your eyes peeled for will be Sue Healeys work Variant and Thrashing without looking. If you are in Sydney this is a must see and we all need to get on board the Performance Space boat and keep on supporting this type of artistic gin.

Nightshifters is a group exhibiton of muti media artists, curated by Associate Director of Performance Space Bec Dean. The works are in direct response to its location and the more illusive ‘atmospheres’ which this space inspires.

So this is what we have been told and it all sounds rather great, stay tuned to see what somenewplace thinks of Nightshifters and more importantly DROP IN AND SEE IT.

You will also want to come and see- before you visit Nightshifters; the last event for REELDANCE this year, also at Performance Space. This is going to be the good stuff from new talent and is curated by the very good and very talented Matt Cornell and Trish Wood.

Everything is timed perfectly:

finish work

REELDANCE AT 6:00

NIGHTSHIFTERS AT 8:30

you have no choice but to be at Carriage Works tomorrow night.

REELDANCE: 6:00 tomorrow and Nightshifters opens after and runs until the 13^th November from

8:30- 11:00 pm and it is ALL FREE

www.performancespace.com.au

Carriage Works

245 Wilson Street

Eveleigh

UPDATE ME PLEASE.

Apologies dear readers for my lack of posting of late. University has proven to be quite the time sap.

Coming up in the next few weeks will be an interview with Tasmanian multi media artist JAMES NEWITT. For those of you whom have not seen his work get down to the MCA for Prima Vera in Sydney and have a look and if not take a look at his stuff http://www.jnewitt.com/

ATTEND OR DIE

Apologies for my sluttish postings...new town and all.

Meanwhile if you are in London, you must attend the Ribbed Magazine supplement launch party: details below. NON ATTENDANCE IS SOCIAL SUICIDE

For those of you in Sydney, you must must must come along and see the amazing work of

Angela Goh and Autumnal in EXCITING A BLUSH

PACT THEATRE, ERSKINEVILLE, SYDNEY, SUNDAY 22ND OF AUGUST.

(ignore dates and location on picture below, is in Sydney...trust me.)

ATTEND OR DIE.

THINGS I AM LIKING.

Tommy Ton always delivers the goods.

This D&G boys story has made my sad little day a whole lot better.

I don't always like what Stefano and Dominico put down the runway, however they NEVER fail in the casting of models.

Check the full story out HERE

I am NOT liking

the fact I missed out on an East End Thrift Store Event, due to my current living status as a destitute homo cowboy back in Australia.

I am Liking

the way I found out I missed it through the very lovely and talented Matt King at

www.matt-king.blogspot.com

watch out for this one.

FLATEURVILLE: THE BEST THING NOT ON EARTH

Paris, June.

Myself and two of my lovely lady loves are walking around our local neighborhood, searching in vain for a pastry, coffee, a place to smoke and people to watch: Parisian style. We take a few wrong turns and pass a very questionable little lane; homeless to the left, gypsies on the right. Out of nowhere, a canvas of a sultry face peeks out at us from a very non descript building façade.

We take a tentative step in.

A shrill bell goes off.

And we jump into the rabbit hole of Flateurville.

Laurent Godard

Flateurville is the creative baby of Laurent Godard, a writer, painter, actor, architect and dental surgeon. Godard has created in Flateurville the ultimate creative oasis, and not just an oasis; Flatuerville exists as a world of its own.The mythical peoples of Flateurville take residency in a factory in Morocco, an old swimming pool in Paris (swimming pool of Flateurville), a large warehouse in central Manhattan (capital city of Flateurville) via a countryside house in Bourgogne. These sites, originally abandoned, run down or beyond disrepair are transformed by Godard to create the United States of Flateurville.

The site that we happenend to stumble upon (24 cour des Petites Ecuries, situated in the tenth arrondissement of Paris,) is a 600msq old newspaper factory transformed into Marcel’s (a mythical resident of Flateurville’s) playhouse. It also acts as a studio for Godard, a gallery space and an active creative venue for those who know of it on a Thursday night. As you enter this space you are assaulted with an overwhelming amount of creative stimulus.

Flateurville is an orgy of inspiration.

We first stepped foot into a moody forest; this dominates a large room full of twigs, reeds, and shiny plastic foliage, housing a small stage which seduces you over and convinces you to strum, dance and scream on it’s back. Stroll into the games room, which is scattered with Babaar, scruffy bears and decaying dolls; a giant blackboard which lies bare, waits to be used for whatever you wish.

The maze continues....

One definately gets the sense that all this is laid out for the visitors of Flateurville, to set a stage and to peak the creative senses to encourage absolutely everything. In Flateurville one doesn’t need courage to push the boundaries as the boundaries do not exist.

This is the modern day factory.

But better.

The story of Flateurville is complex and mysterious, much like the spaces it inhabits. It would be selfish to tell you much more than this. Find Flateurville and see for yourself.

This is the future.

Turn off your computer.

Turn away from the sterile walls of a gallery.

Get out of the studio.

Get out of the office.

Get out of this life.

Find another one.

In an unsuspecting building in an unsuspecting lane in a world called Flateurville.

www.flateurville.com

24 cours des petits ecuries

Paris 75010

Metro: Strasbourg St. Denis

Thursdays from 6:30 the games begin!

If you cannot make it then you can make an appointment via the website or just drop in as we did. The guardians of Flateurville are super informative and friendly.

All images are courtsey of Carine at Flateurville, copryright 2010

All text copyright of somenewplace 2010

I SAY FUNNY. YOU SAY IMMATURE.

I do love a bit of puerile humor every now and then ( read here for all the time ).

Who doesn't love a bit of animal porno in the afternoon?

I am going to apologize in advance for my lack of posting, I will be in Paris and NYC for a time then off to Sydney.

So I may have heaps of interviews with creatives OR I may just have loads of sex.

Either way I win so that is great, right?

TABAIMO AT PARASOL UNIT

Hurrah hurrah!

Another gem of an exhibition thanks to the glamorous ladies and gents at Parasol Unit.

This exhibition is so hot I ache.

Until 6 August 2010.

Parasol Unit: foundation for contemporary art, 14 Wharf Road, London. N1 7RW.

DIE COLOR DIE

AN AUDIENCE WITH ALEXANDRA GROOVER: NEW QUEEN OF THE BLACK SILHOUETTE.

A/W 09

Photographer: Akio

Stylist: Yasuhiro Takehisa

Although my fashion lingo is limited and I am no Tommy Ton, it does not take much to see that this is the way that fashion should be headed. Please lord let fashion go this way! Alexandra Groover, like so many talented designers before her is a graduate from Central St Martins in London and has also left her paw print in the studios of significant contemporary fashion houses including the hallowed halls of Alexander Mc Queen. Although a Californian native, you will not see any Coachella color in this pretty young things collections.

I work in black because I find color to be a distraction in my designs. I am primarily interested in silhouette, texture, and subtle design details. These are all things that could easily get lost in colors or prints. Also, colors often date very rapidly. I choose black because it is a favorite of mine, a classic, and is flattering on all ages and body types

Grey Label Three

Photographer: Alexandra Groover

Model: Linn Carin Dirdal

Alexandra Groover garments seem to transcend a base knowledge of fashion trends and embrace the idea of design as a more considered art form. As any artist worth there salt knows, the creative process must not be restricted to a taught practice; it should embrace all forms of the creative sphere. The Alexandra Groover label not only presents a garment it presents a collective of ideas.

I've always been more drawn to fine art generally. I like the idea of being able to turn my art projects into functional garments as well….I love to research and abstract. My sketches are usually quite literal in the beginning, and often my designs become extremely abstracted to the point where I may be the only one that can see the references. I find pleasure in using tools such as deconstruction and metamorphosis in the design process.

Black label One

Photographer: Susan Surface

Model: Vera Balyura

Groover’s aesthetic does not stop at merely the design of clothes, the fashion label has now strived to bottle it‘s overall concept through colloborations in film, music and vision. For the S/S10 collection Groover chose to colloborate on a film to showcase the collection and has plans to do the same for future seasons.

I am usually in correspondence with potential collaborators during the development process because our work must come together in the final collection and presentation. So, for example, I have already been in touch with the musician I would like to work with for the(S/S11) film because I want to make sure that they will complement each other in the end. In addition, I have several more involved long term collaborations that require many developmental/preperatory meetings before the design process even starts.

S/S 10 collection

Although the fashion set adores the media hype of fashion week and the traditional catwalk template; a growing number of designers (Prada and Yang Fudong, Gareth Pugh and Ruth Hogben) are choosing alternate paths to showcase their collections. Groover’s collaborative nature recognises that although the garment is the final product; it cannot fully realise the myriad of conceptual ideas which brought about the result.

I hope it becomes more of a movement to present in a less conventional manner because catwalks are pretty straightforward and not usually as exciting as other presentations and exhibits. But that is why the press like catwalk shows. They like having an easily cataloged format, so it is good for getting press, but not always so unique/ creative.

A/W 09

Photographer: Akio

Stylist: Yasuhiro Takehisa

The Alexandra Groover label does not strut down the street; it quietly walks by you and as you brush shoulders in passing; you get a whiff of an intoxicating elixir of mystique, elegance and above all else style.

See more of Alexandra Groover at:

www.alexandragroover.com

All text and quotes are copyight of somenewplace 2010

All images are used with the permission of the designer

TACITA DEAN: CRANEWAY EVENT

Frith Street Gallery, Soho.

This was rather amazing. About the great man Cunningham. Have a looky if your in London.

A Few things I love about MARTIN SASTRE...

Tango with Obama, 2009

I did not even bother trying to contact the greatness which is Martin Sastre. In the unlikely event that this amazing multi media artist would talk to me for my under the radar shittingly swell blog; I simply would not know what to do.

I would probably try and take advantage of him.

My good freind Ange shares these views in regards to the greatness of Thom Yorke. She simply does not care that he looks a bit weird and serial killer-esque. He is Thom Yorke and you have sex with him out of principle. Anyway that is the strength of my love for the work of this artist. Not saying that Mr Sastre is ugly or serial killer-esque at all.
I would have sex with him because he is who he is.
Amazing.
That’s all I am saying.

1. Martin Sastre’s favourite quote, ‘save the cheerleader, save the world.’ This epitomises his body of work for me. Yes, it kind of not really makes sense, but its camp and fun and who gives a fuck.

2. KIM X LIZ. Oh the irony of it all! Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Jong- Il in a love story for the ages. It is so irreverent in many ways but I always watch it and end up feeling sorry for Kim Jong- Il. How many people do you know can make you feel that eh? I doubt it is a feeling directly related to his literal personality but there is a sensational feeling of positive humanity in this- coming from the most unlikely places.

Here it is, down below. Have a looky.

Kim X Liz, 2008

3. Sastre still adores Hello Kitty. When most of you shaven head Shoreditch clothes horses, would rather hang your emaciated, designer clad bodies than admit that, he just puts it out there. Outside Madonna’s house ( Latins do it better, Madonna meets Sor Kitty, 2008) of all places. It’s all oh so wrong but oh so right.

Latins do it better, Madonna meets Sor Kitty, 2008

4. I cannot even express the delight I have for the title of his 2001 Project Masturbated Virgin. ‘Project to masturbate Britney Spears with a giant cotton swab.’ Need I say more?

5. Yes I do.Oh Lord. I have not had the pleasure to view this work in it’s entirety but it just seems to get better and more ironic as Brits gets more tragic and tragic. To think that there was a time when Britney Spears was seen as a teenage ‘virgin’. If only Sastre had got to her with that swab earlier. Things may have turned out better for you Brits.

Masturbated Virgin, 2001

On closer inspection of the above text; I would like to retract the last words of point one. Sastre’s work does in fact, give a fuck. There is a very real and omnipresecent sense of Latin American culture and an awareness of home. Throughout his work; Sastre is able to combine popular culture icons who have seemingly no corrolation to his Latin American roots and he combines them seemlessy, contrastingly and wittily.

See more of Matin Sastre at :

Martinsastre.com

All images and films are copyright of the artist 2010
All text is copyright of somenewplace 2010

Enjoy this bit of shite!

I found it so annoying it has eclipsed my day in rage and the only reason it is posted is so somenewplace can move on with it’s life.

My particular favourite is the little emo disgrace to the word fag at around 1:25 - 30.

Why is he sniffing? Why?

I think the look trying to be achieved here is: I have just taken a line of coke and I am jamming down to my nasty cool tunes.

Reality, I am a sceney biatch fuck with a sinus problem.

HUGFUCK THE WORLD

Please Welcome…HUNTER.

Stamps

The first time I heard of this nineteen year old artist was swimming through the cyber river of the web and I stumbled across his 4/8/2010 never forget photograph. After some casual web stalking I found Hunter’s website, Huntermadeit.com .This guy ‘s little patch of cyber property sure packs an awesome creative punch. You are soon to realise that Hunter cannot only draw, he is one of those scarily creative people who can put his mind to anything and produce something provocative. Your talking to someone who is really doing something interesting; I am not talking about the Anish Kapoor creative who is riding the gravy train of government commissions and commercial ventures with Belgravia Bankers. It’s all about the business of creating.

Share the world

An average day involves me waking up at 7:07am to the sounds of birds and windchimes and rustling trees and my neighbor verbally abusing her small puff-cloud of a dog named Bailey. That poor pup can't even take a piss without getting yelled at, although I'm sure it's deaf. Or pretends to be deaf. I enjoy breakfast with myself staring out the window, sometimes at the wall, whichever is more inclined to carry on with some sophisticated-according-to-who breakfast dialogue. … I'm stuck in this horrible rut of having to do whatever the fuck I please every day. Cycle to class? Stay home and draw? Work on a poster? Dumpster dive?

An ant

Hunter uses readily identifiable hallmarks of society; words, domestic objects, creatures reminiscent of a common animal and uses this base familiarity to create a thing which casually slaps you in the face. Yet, at the same time he makes you giggle and let’s you think that he has slapped the person next to you harder, and made them cry. Finally, you can both turn around and laugh at them together. Hunter coins it ‘hugfuck the world’. ‘The border between veneration and insubordination towards a subject is some place I tend to take casual strolls. My work stands up for the people who believe their reality is shaped by their perception. More specifically, the positive heads. And fuck the "ignorance is bliss" name attached to a positive attitude; we are a different breed’.

This attachment and glorification of the traditionally weird or outcast is resonant in all of his work. Hunter’s drawings create characters who take a quiet presence in the world, who could be easily passed by if not examined carefully. ‘There are new ways to address the unfavorable, the unfortunate, and the unbelievable and I'm on the prowl with my teeth out for those images that say it best’. For the viewer, we must really look to find the detail and irony in his works and yet, Hunter’s work can be contrastingly confrontational. Using literal dialogue, Hunter expresses the anger and annoyance of his subjects and perhaps their inability to connect to the reality of the everyman.

All it takes

Most of my drawings are kept company by a family of words, yes. I have fun with picking away at the mind's obsession with finding a correlation between the two, the mind's obsession with organizing and naming and applying contexts to those names. Getting too locked in to "how things are" is dangerous and will lead to stagnant waters. Really shitty stagnant waters like what's behind supermarkets in retention ponds. Sometimes the interaction between word and image is intentionally blatant in my work, sometimes not. Sometimes it should be blatant to some, but is not. Perhaps that's my friendly little stab at the viewers who choose to remain unconscious. I am aware of my audience and constantly ask if they are aware as well.

Get the fuck up wake the fuck up you stupid fuck get the fuck out of bed

Hunter’s practice at its very essence speaks loudly to this ideal; of craving a mundane or stable reality with no real means of achieving this . A desire which can be related to on one level or another for those who relate to his works. If you can’t you are probably looking at Hunter’s creations and not realising that there is a big fuck off finger pointing at you.

Sometimes I feel like I should just leave it all behind, you know? Everyone deserves to experience the liberation of having to show up to work the same time every day. Life is so damn short, I want some consistency. One day I'll take the leap…This is me talking at nineteen years, who knows where I'll end up. I just hope I never completely figure out anything, that would be boring.

Hustle

See more of Hunter at

HUNTERMADEIT.COM

All images are used with the permission of the artist. Copyright 2010

All text and quotes are copyright of somenewplace 2010

Leading drawing by Hunter Apple Debt

Four things I love in my flat

The house mate.

I cannot speak more highly of her. She boozes away most Saturday afternoon's with me and calls the ambulance when I tell her to.

Destroyed Tee by Pop Issue from the Black Heaven S/S 10 collection.

Pop Issue is everything I love about Australian fashion; simple, black and lightweight. Customs raped me with taxes when I got this to London and it end up costing me a fuckload. I still love it.

My nipple sticks out of this top and not in an attractive, muscled way as seen on the website. Think flaccid. Think hairy.

I still maintain this top will get me some sexy time this summer.

The vintage eighties-shoulder pad-faux snake print-extravaganza of cool jacket.

This puppy belongs to the house mate. When she wears this out on the town she projects a strange image.

It is a cross between a sex goddess, 'my milkshake brings all the boys to the bar' type of look which, at the same time says 'I will fucking castrate you for even looking at me and my amazing vintage eighties-shoulder pad-faux snake print-extravaganza of cool jacket.

Lanvin S/S 10 mirror necklace.

This necklace is pure FASHION PORN.

Everything about this collection was amazing and this was about the only thing I could afford. I am still paying it off. I don't care though, such is my love for this obscenely overpriced piece of perspex.

Here is the runway show...thank fuck the TASH IS BACK.

Baby Alpaca Vodka Lemonade

THE PROBLEM WITH A LABEL

Anthony Gayton Beautiful Freaks

Another Saturday, another boozy party in London. After six cans of Stella at five quid from the off licence, one’s conversation with fellow reveller inevitably, turns ‘arty’.

‘So who are you writing about at the moment?’

‘Oh, actually I am really interested in Robert Mapplethorpe right now…’

‘Well, chuh, of course, yeah, you ARE gay, but like, who else?’

This little exchange keeps chafing away at my brain like wet soul sand. Why is it that an interest in a certain artist is indicative of the tastes of a queer guy? It begs that rather annoying and extremely hard to answer question; does gay art exist and if it does what defines a gay artist from your average garden variety creative?

Undeniably; if one was to attach an artist and his work to this tricky classification Robert Mapplethorpe would come immediately to mind. Mapplethorpe is consistently referenced for his works (notably the thirteen images included in X portfolio, 1978) which displayed erect penises, acts of homosexual sex with more than a gentle spank towards fetish and masochism. In the rapidly evolving world of the early 1970’s contemporary art world, this was unchartered territory and created such an impact that it is now, what Mapplethorpe is most remembered for. The lamentable aspect of this, is the rest of Mapplethorpes’s impressive body of work remains constantly in the shadows. Meanwhile, discussions of his more controversial works take centre stage in academic rhetoric bogged in eroticsm and censorship.

Robert Mapplethorpe, Patrice, 1977. Gelatin silver print. Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, New York. Photo © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

This tendancy within queer culture and the wider community ( if such a divide still exists) to select the sexually charged and fabulously controversial highway, is one of the problems with defining a body of work or artist with a term as absoloute as gay art or a gay artist. There is always more to an artists body of work than a stiff penis or pumped pectorals.

Anthony Gayton, a new photographic force in the art world has exhibited widely throughout Europe, with representation at MITO contemporary art gallery in Barcelona. Gayton’s collection of works straddle a blurred line between erotica, pornography, commerical photography and contemporary art.Through a series of email conversations I was able to pick Gayton’s mind on ‘gay art’ and those rather delish model muses in his work.

Anthony Gayton Behold The Man

SNP: Hi Anthony, you have recently finished your solo exhibition Behold The Man at MITO, Barcelona and have just finished exhibiting in a group exhibition De Pictura - En Defensa De La Belleza at the Espai Metropolità de Torrent in Valencia. How’s everything going?

AG: It was probably on the strength of this show (Behold the Man) that I was asked to participate in Valencia, and there is another museum group exhibition coming up in Italy in September.

Over the last few years my work has advanced creatively and also in terms of credibility, though I still have a long way to go to gain both increased recognition and financial solvency. My work is so borderline, that it is rarely able to please all the people all the time, and I have been accused of being both 'too gay' and 'not gay enough'.

SNP: Gay art’, what is your opinion of the classification? Do you think it’s valid to brand an artist and his practice with such a label?

AG: I’ve been asked similar questions, and my problem with labels is that are both limiting and vague at the same time. ‘Photographer’, ‘Art’, ‘Gay’ are all words that mean everything and nothing. At best ‘Gay Art’ is a term that suggests something politically worthy yet peripheral or even exclusive; it somehow seems to define its audience as much as itself. I produce work which reflects my passions, my upbringing and my experience, yet I would say I do this as a gay man rather than specifically for gay men. Of course it would be naive of me to hope that producing work with the subject matter I do that I can avoid such labelling, but I hope at least that my work can speak to anyone in some way, whether on an emotional, aesthetic or even technical level.

SNP: Do you ever get frustrated when people view your work and cannot look beyond an (admittedly beautiful) naked male torso?

AG: As I actually use various forms of pin-up and porn quite obviously in my work, I don’t have a problem with this, as in a lot of cases it is exactly this desire in the eye of beholder that is the whole point of image. Saying this, I think that with the huge amount of male nude and male erotic photography was has been produced since the dawn of digital photography, my work is seen less and less in these purely ‘superficial’ sexual terms. Which of course has meant for me a huge falling away of interest from mainstream gay culture, and a fresh interest in my work from the art world.

Anthony Gayton Home Alone

SNP: On the subject of your ‘muses’ why do you choose the men that you do, is your relationship with these men forged through a need for a certain look or body or is it founded on an emotional connection?

AG: I have photographed many attractive men over the years, but have only three I would describe as muses (see my blog site: www.anthonygayton.blogspot.com). The one quality they had was the ability to inspire me to create works specifically for them. I’m sure every photographer of people has a type of model which most closely embodies his particular aesthetic, and these three boys were simply the personification of mine. I certainly wouldn’t say it has anything to do with an emotional connection, or if it does it’s very subliminal.

SNP: It seems that you are able to identify with many of the labels discussed ( photographer, artist, gay artist, erotica ). Do you see yourself in your future practice trying to develop one aspect more than another? In both artistic and commercial terms?

AG: I can identify with each of those labels, but still find it very difficult to reduce myself or my work to any one of them. Almost all the work I produce has some connection to the experience of being homosexual and I think, if anything, that is the one theme that I will continue to pursue. This is partly because I can only really write or take pictures about things from my life experience, and also because we are at a point in history where such open expression of same-sex relationships is possible and this opportunity should be exploited.

Anthony Gayton Le Baiser Interdit

An Anthony Gayton glossy, semi clad male model or an exquisite Mapplethorpe photograph will of course cause a reaction in any gay man. This does not mean to say that these works will not cause a reaction of the same or stronger emotion for a heterosexual person. If we took the idea of ‘gay art’ as an absoloute it would be on par to saying that a queer guy could not truly appreciate

Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’ because naked women would not be of interest. Although many gay artists are influenced by their sexuality it is not the definition of art practice simillarily; being a gay man is just one of the thousands of parts which make a whole being. Mapplethorpe brought much needed exposure to the AIDS cause when he was diagnosed in 1986 and for the rest of his life was unabashedly open about AIDS and the turbulent lifestyle of the gay scene in the 1980‘s. This is what makes him a gay icon; not a gay artist.

So take that, my deep and meaningful conversation buddy of a Saturday night past.

All images are courtesy of the artist. All images used in this article are copyrighted.

This article is copyright 2010 and all images, quotes and text cannot be re produced without permission.