Category Archives: Art
New York Queer Experimental Film Festival Nov. 12-17th
The 26th New York Queer Experimental Film Festival
(between 12th & 13th Streets, in Gowanus)
MIX NYC presents the 26th New York Queer Experimental Film Festival, with
over 225 short films, features, art installations and live
performances—made by or for lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, and
queer people—along with galleries and gathering spaces open free to the public.
This year’s MIX Festival promises to be an interactive and experiential
wonderland—yours for the making—filled with mind-bending art and
friendly crowds in a 20,000 sf warehouse transformed by local artists.
This year we’ve turned our venue into a living organism, complete a
monumental pair of breathing lungs, neuron lattices, fleshy openings and
veiny interiors. You’ll easily loose a few hours exploring the fleshy
nooks and crannies of the site. It’s the opposite antiseptic atmosphere
you’d find at a gallery or museum screening – it’s not about looking at
art in silence, then going home.
The 26th New York Queer Experimental Film Festival makes it
easy to open up to the warmth of our crowd and the outlaw energies of
our screens. And after the screenings are over, MIX NYC gives the
colorful and comfy lounge space to mingle with artists, meet new folks
from all walks of life, plot the downfall of oppression everywhere. You
may just feel the call to make an experiment of yourself.
It’s the after-hours that makes the festival. If you’re out of sick
days, call in queer—the MIX celebration goes late every night.
Complete program information and schedule available online at www.mixnyc.org
Queer New York International Arts Festival
The second edition of the Queer New York International Arts Festival—a festival of
contemporary performance and visual art that explores and broadens the
concept of “queer” (in) art—will take place from Wednesday, October 23
through Sunday, November 3, at multiple venues throughout New York City.
The 2013 festival features an exciting lineup of some of the most
innovative artists of our time, many of whom are presenting their work
in New York for the first time. QNYIA 2013 is produced and curated by Zvonimir Dobrović and the late André von Ah.
installation, and visual arts productions. The first week features
performances by Bulgarian performance artist Ivo Dimchev, Italian-based artist collective Sineglossa, New York performance and nightlife stars Shane Shane and Heather Litteer, UAE and New York-based visual-performance artist CHOKRA, American playwright Dan Fishback, German choreographer Antonia Baehr, Poland-based artist collective SUKA OFF, Brazilian performance and visual artist Gabriela Mureb, visual and performance artist Antoni Karwowski from Poland, and choreographer-performer Raimund Hoghe from Germany. The second week features performances by dance artist Bruno Isaković from Croatia, Portland-based visual artist and writer Daniel Duford, Croatian experimental circus duo Room 100, artist Bojana Radulović from Montenegro, choreographer-dancer Eisa Jocson from the Philippines, Colombia-based installation/performance artist Guillermo Riveros, and choreographerÂngelo Madureira from Brazil. The festival also includes the Queer Art New Music Series, with performances by M Lamar, Max Steele, Enid Ellen, and Nath Ann Carrara; a film screening and talkback with David Weissman; and a series of discussions and other public programs.
New York-based photographer Leland Bobbé has captured portraits of drag queens in half drag!
queens in half drag for his ongoing project ‘Half-Drag . . . A Different
Kind of Beauty.’
“With this series my intention is to capture both the male and the alter
ego female side of these subjects in one image in order to explore the
cross over between males and females and to break down the physical
barriers that separate them,” Bobbé says.
These images, composed and stylized through the power of hair and
makeup, are captured in one snap, and are NOT digitally composed.
Universe of Keith Haring August 20th
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West between 76th and 77th
August 20th, 2013 6:00-8:00pm
bring home some of Haring’s iconic swag with 10% off Keith Haring gifts
in the New-York Historical Society Museum Store until 7pm.
More Information:
New York Photographer Launches GayFace 1st Class project
GayFace is a current collection of
fine photography works by New York City photographer/artist, Ashley
Kolodner. Gay rights, as human rights, have long been thrown aside by
the American society. Sexuality cannot be defined as black and white
for all. There are many members of the LGBTQ Community that do not
identify with just one label. Queer culture is most often portrayed as
radical, quirky, off-beat even unserious, or detrimental to social and
familiar norms. The goal of this project is to break barriers that the
LGBTQ community has lived under. The purpose is to give this community
the voice it deserves and the power to speak their truth.
This collection of works is done to portray the innovative, personal,
and participatory face of the gay movement and American culture at
large and in the home.
Each
subject is photographed with their eyes closed, then eyes open. The
images are meant to be seen side by side. Closing their eyes gives the
viewer a sense of the subjects’ vulnerability. The eyes open, allows the
subject to look the viewer directly in the eye. Once the photographs
have been taken, each subject participates in a short interview stating
their name and their identifiable label of their choosing.
The work will then be projected onto different buildings and landmarks, to superimpose this true-to-life image of the gay community and further the aims of the movement in light of the
current ACLU and marriage court
cases. She has and will continue to tour the United States to shoot
individuals who overtly, or covertly,
identify
themselves within the LGBTQ community. Her work has already
contributed greatly to the self-identity and empowerment of these
individuals, producing a massive support system. This work will also be
contributed to book projects, street art and gallery exhibitions. She
is working to unify others in her movement in celebration of sex,
freedom of identity, freedom of association, and culture.
Facebook: https://www.
Tumblr: http://
Website: www.
NYC X DESIGN Happens in New York May 10 – 21
Today,
City Council Speaker Christine
C. Quinn, along with, NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta, Cultural
Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin, steering committee members, and
members of the local design community announced details of the first
annual “NYCxDESIGN”
(NYC by Design) event. Officials also revealed “Multifesto,” a
communal design manifesto project open to designers from across the
world, and announced plans to launch a mobile scheduling website, and an
iPhone photo App. NYCxDESIGN takes place Friday,
May 10th through Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 and
features more than 200 events across all five boroughs. Officials made
the announcement in in Times Square and were joined by Executive
Director at the Center for an Urban Future Jonathan Bowles,
Executive Director at NY Designs Natalia Argüello, FIT Professor and
Founder of Breadbox Studio in Harlem Joseph Masibay and other leading
members of the New York City design community.
First
announced in Speaker Quinn’s 2012 State of the city address, NYCxDESIGN
is the City’s first annual city-wide event to showcase and promote
New York City’s rich design community. Scheduled events include free
design classes for children ages 2 and up through the Smithsonian
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, as well as BKLYN Designs in
DUMBO, WantedDesign in Chelsea, the International Contemporary
Furniture Fair at the Javits Center, free classes at a pop-up design
studio in Staten Island, talks at universities and museums and many
more. Design disciplines span Architecture, Art, Design Thinking,
Digital, Craft, Fashion, Furniture, Graphic Design, Industrial,
Interiors, Landscape, Lighting, Products, Media, Theater, and Urban
Design.
For a full list of events, please visit:
www.nycxdesign.com/events
“Over
40,000 designers call the City home and it’s time for us to tap into
this sector, raise its profile, and turn it into an economic engine,”
said Speaker Quinn. “NYCxDESIGN provides the right opportunity
for New York City to convene our local design community and celebrate
their contributions to the city, to a degree never before seen. I’m
excited that NYCxDESIGN will help both emerging
and established designers exhibit their skills, sell their designs, and
grow their businesses in the five boroughs.”
“When visitors explore New York City they experience unparalleled urban design and architecture around every corner and are also
able to find distinctive design items made locally and sourced from around the world,” said
George Fertitta CEO of NYC & Company. “NYCxDESIGN captures
the essence of New York City’s creativity and diversity, giving us
another opportunity to reach new audiences and showcase all that the
five boroughs have to offer. To further exemplify design
in all its expressions, NYC & Company recently launched The Design
Collection, a selection of 19 hotels where exceptional design is an
essential part of the visitor experience. During NYCxDESIGN, or anytime
throughout the year, we encourage visitors to be
inspired by one of these unique hotels.”
“The NYCxDESIGN initiative highlights the extraordinary breadth of New York City’s creative community,” said
Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin. “The dynamic program
of events and exhibitions will foster new connections between
audiences, organizations, and professionals whose work make the City a
global center for innovation and excellence in design.”
Gay Cowboys Spotted in New York Bedrooms
What if…
Gunsmoke met Tom of Finland!
If your mother comes to visit, these may not be the sheets for her…
Vice Merchants, a rebelliously luxe bedding company, has released “Cowpokes,”
a full line of sheets, pillowcases and throws aimed at gay men.
Made
from 100 percent Egyptian cotton, 400 thread count, fine Sateen bedding
fabric, “Cowpokes” features a ranch scene of playfully undressed men
engaging in acts of whimsical outdoor fun and farm work, while
frolicking in the buff! Illustrated by K. Commodore, cows, horses and
tractors further set the scene as hot men work hard and play hard in the
foreground.
They are very high quality and soft, as me and my man, rolled around in the hay, on them this past weekend!
“We’re
enthusiastic to expand our brand to cater to the gay community,” Jake
Katz, president of Vice Merchants said. “’Cowpokes’ is a design unlike
any other that allows gay men to spice up their bedroom in a subtle, yet
enticing and playful manner. With these sheets, every night can feel
like a sweaty day with the boys on the ranch.”
Vice
Merchants is a company that believes your bedding should be as sexy and
as much fun as bedtime activities. The company specializes in fine
bedding that brings edgy, richly hued graphics created by illustrators.
They
worked with Brooklyn-based artist K. Commodore has an M.A. degree from
the Rhode Island School of Design, to create these fun sheets. Her work
is known for its insightful and witty look at human sexuality, and has
been exhibited in numerous galleries throughout the United States and
Europe.
When asked, What was the motivation behind the fun farm setting???
Artists
Katie Commodoresaid,” We all got together to brainstorm the next
pattern and decided to go with a traditional toile. My art has always
been about usurping traditional mediums or styles and using them as a
vehicle for portraying sexuality. So the idea of taking a traditional
toile and using fun homoerotic imagery made perfect sense! Traditional
toile, which first became fashionable in the 16th century, has images of
pastoral scenes; what’s more pastoral than cowboys and farm hands???
She
says that some other scenarios considered as well, “Oh Yes! Some of
which we will make in the future! But there are only so many drawings I
can work on at once!”
“Cowpokes” is available in all sheet sizes
with prices ranging from $99 for a Twin Long Sheet set to $235 for a
King Sheet set. The print is also available in duvet and sham sets, bed
skirts, and throw pillows. A complete nine-piece bedding set can be purchased in Full for $399; Queen for $439; King (and California King) for $499.
You won’t find these at Macy’s but you can order them now, discreetly online. And they will be shipped in a plain brown box. VIce Merchants.
Sleeping at New Yorks MoMo – with People Watching You
No way I could this!
installation, but the exhibition dates remain a mystery even to MoMA
employees.
statement released, no museum statement beyond this brief context, no
public profile or image issued,” MoMa said in a Tildastatement. “Those
who find it chance upon it for themselves, live and in real-shared-time:
now we see it, now we don’t.”
New York Historical Society Present AIDS in New York: The First Five Years
early history of the AIDS epidemic in New York City—from the first
rumors in 1981 of a “gay plague” through the ensuing period of intense
activism, clinical research, and political struggle—will be the subject
of a major new exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, AIDS in New York: The First Five Years, on view from June 7 through September 15, 2013.
With a wealth of materials drawn from New-York Historical’s archives
as well as the archives of the New York Public Library, New York
University, and the National Archive of LGBT History, the exhibition
will use artifacts including clinicians’ notes, journal entries,
diaries, letters, audio and video clips, posters, photographs,
pamphlets, and newspapers to revisit the impact of the epidemic on
personal lives and public culture in New York City and the nation.
“For those who lost partners, children, siblings, parents, and
friends, the memory of the fear and mystery that pervaded New York at
the beginning of the AIDS epidemic remains vivid,” said curator Jean S.
Ashton. “For many people today, though, these years are now a
little-understood and nearly forgotten historical period. Yet the
trajectory of HIV/AIDS changed paradigms in medicine, society, politics,
and culture in ways that are still being felt, and the disease remains
with us, affecting some 100,000 New Yorkers and more than one million
Americans today. This exhibition explores a history that we continue to
live.”
The exhibition will begin by recalling life in New York in the
pre-AIDS period, especially the exhilarating sense of artistic and
sexual freedom that followed the 1969 Stonewall Riots, which establishes
the social and political context for the earliest reports from medical
professionals of the physical decline and deaths of previously healthy
young people afflicted with diseases usually found only in the aged.
This section will feature the personal stories of the first AIDS
patients and their caretakers and give voice to the doctors who cared
for these patients. Because more than 80 percent of those infected were
homosexual males, rumors of a “gay plague” circulated. Anchor objects in
this area of the exhibition include a copy of the national medical
bulletin Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report that first mentioned the disease, the July 3, 1981 New York Times article that was the first national media story, and a variety of reports published in the gay press.
As cases of this new epidemic were discovered outside the gay
community, in heroin drug injectors, babies, and people who had had
blood transfusions, the challenges posed to researchers and those caring
for the sick intensified. Racing at once to discover the possible
cause or causes of the disease in order to contain its spread and to
alleviate the social and political impact of the growing rate of
infection and death, scientists, social workers, and members of the
affected populations and their friends struggled together to raise funds
and influence research priorities. By the middle of 1983, responses
from the community, including increasingly militant victims of the
disease, began to take shape to demand support for social services and
raise new monies for research. In New York, even more than elsewhere,
AIDS was a political issue, pitting the Mayor against a vocal
constituency that demanded action.
The second section of the exhibition will explore the impediments
that prevented any quick solution to the growing problem. An epidemic
of fear swept the city, fueled by rumors and stoked by exploitative news
coverage, as funeral directors refused to embalm the bodies of AIDS
victims, parents protested the admission of AIDS victims to public
schools, and some hospitals refused to admit people suffering from the
disease.
The third and final section traces both the progress of
research on the causes of the epidemic, the development of AIDS
philanthropy, and the growth of the anger and mistrust that would
explode after the founding of ACT-UP in 1986. On display in this section
will be slides and documents from the 1984 Park City Utah conference
where Jean-Claude Chermann, a virologist from the Nobel-Prize winning
team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris electrified the room by
presenting evidence announcing the discovery of the retrovirus which
would ultimately be identified as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV),
and would make possible the development of the first commercial test kit
for the presence of the virus (also on display).
and other philanthropic organizations, and the strengthened role of the
Gay Men’s Health Crisis, also documented here, would enable the
successful public outreach of the following decades. The gallery will
focus on the landmark New York production of Larry Kramer’s powerful
call to action, The Normal Heart, and will end with the highly publicized illness and death of movie star Rock Hudson in October, 1985.
Also included in the exhibition is a panel from the AIDS quilt
memorializing Roger Gail Lyon, an early victim of the epidemic whose
plea that he not die of “red tape” articulated the frustration of the
AIDs community.
The years documented in AIDS in New York: The First Five Years
preceded the founding of ACT-UP, whose commitment to activism and
dramatic achievements will be illustrated in an exhibition at the New
York Public Library entitled
Generous support for AIDS in New York: The First Five Years is provided, in part, by Ford Foundation and by The New York Community Trust.
Can New Yorkers Really be Offended By Gay Artists? Ask MoMa
I find this kind of crazy – and insulting.
Slate writer Mark Joseph Stern notes some troublesome closeting by the Museum of Modern Art:
The Museum of Modern Art currently has on
display a wonderful, compact installation titled simply “Johns and
Rauschenberg.” Featuring art culled from the museum’s permanent
collection, “Johns and Rauschenberg” focuses on works painted by each
artist during the mid to late 1950s, using Robert Rauschenberg’s
recently acquired Canyon as a centerpiece.
The introductory placard
describes the two artists as being “in dialogue with one another,”
explaining how their works from this period led the way “beyond Abstract
Expressionism” and toward Pop Art. At the heart of the installation is
the relationship between the two men, an intensely collaborative yet
highly competitive connection which pushed each artist toward his own
artistic triumph.
It’s a nice narrative, as far as it goes. But
it doesn’t go nearly far enough. Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns were
lovers during this six-year period of collaboration, and their
relationship had a profound impact on their art.
Stern thinks the MoMa is concerned about offending its patrons. Seriously? Isn’t New York one of the most progressive, accepting cities in the US??? Meanwhile, everyone seems to be toeing their line:
In an attempt to justify this re-closing
of the artistic closet, MoMA’s press office first informed me that Johns
and Rauschenberg “wish to be described” as just friends.
(Rauschenberg
died in 2008; Johns is 82.) When I asked whether the artists
specifically requested such a label, the museum’s representative walked
back the claim, instead stating that they “have been referred to that
way [as friends, that is] historically,” but the rep would not say
whether the artists themselves insisted on the “friends” phrasing.
Neither would the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, which officially had
“no reply” to the question, or the Matthew Marks Gallery, Johns’ dealer,
which failed to respond to repeated inquiries.
Chicago Club Kids Bring FACE to Nightclubs
Legendary Chicago club kid, doll maker, makeup artist, costumer, and penis-sculpture enthusiast JoJo Baby costars with his clubbing companion, Sal-E, in Bernard Colbert’s lush new 12″ x 12″ coffee-table book Getting into Face: 52 Mondays Featuring Jojo Baby and Sal-e
(Schiffer).
For 17 years, Bernard has been perfecting his craft, working in the field of commercial and advertising photography.
‘In the vibrant community where I live and work, I find what I have
always been searching for- a sublime energy. Nightlife activity blends
with the arts and diversity of self expression abounds. Here, I can
freely pursue my dream: to document and celebrate that spark within,
which defines the unique nature of our human experience.’
performance artists JoJo Baby and Sal-E use their bodies as canvases to
become inspired and whimsical conceptual characters, executed with
expert skill using original, theatrical makeup and costumes. In more
than 100 portraits, photographer Bernard Colbert rigorously captures
these two performance artists in genius moments as psychedelic Hindi
gods, comic book villains, fantastical creatures, astronauts, and much,
much more.
Colbert’s stunning portraits document these delightful
transformations over a five-year period and are the same body of work
featured in the Clive Barker documentary titled JoJo Baby. Through
Colbert’s collaboration with JoJo and Sal, viewers can experience a
front row seat to an ongoing show which has been entertaining club goers
in Chicago for two decades. This is a portfolio for the visually
adventuress and fans of true creative vision.
Every Monday night, JoJo Baby with friend Sal-E have gone to work as
hosts of Chicago’s largest and longest running house-music dance party,
the Boom Boom Room, which is currently on hiatus from its usual location
at Green Dolphin St., 2220 N. Ashland Ave., while the building
undergoes renovation. It took the duo hours to prepare, and Colbert was
there every week to capture the endlessly entertaining process. He said
he usually only had 10 to 15 minutes to photograph them before they went
on stage.
“Sometimes they would show up and I would look at what they were
wearing and try and quickly comprehend what they were up to, because
sometimes it’s high concept and it’s not obvious right away,” Colbert
said. “It’s interesting right away, but it’s like, ‘What the heck is
going on?’ So I scramble and try and make it happen.”
Colbert, who took courses in commercial photography at Columbia from
1989–1991, said he loves portrait photography and has been drawn to
performers such as models, musicians and athletes—people who are both
interesting and like being photographed.
The combination of unplanned imagination and spontaneity kept Colbert
continually inspired. He said the most successful images captured an
indescribable magic that would often occur.
“It was something that would elevate it from an interesting time to
really high art, and it’s something that fascinates me,” Colbert said.
“It feels elusive, but when you find that you can do it time and time
again, it’s really fun to keep trying to do it.”
Getting into Face: 52 Mondays Featuring Jojo Baby and Sal-e
New York City AIDS Memorial for St Vincents Park
Manhattan’s Community Board 2 approved a new design for a New York City AIDS Memorial in Greenwich Village on a 17,000 square-foot triangle-shaped plot of land .
The design calls for a grove of trees reflected infinitely by
12-foot-long mirrors was selected for New York’s first large-scale
AIDS memorial.
The winning proposal, from Studio a+i, a Brooklyn, N.Y. architecture
firm, beat out 474 other entries in the AIDS Memorial Park competition.
Hosted byArchitectural Record, Architizer, and the
AIDS Memorial Park organization, the competition challenged designers
and non-designers to create a park for an unused triangular lot in
Manhattan’s West Village neighborhood.
The fenced-in site, which is next to the former St. Vincent’s
Hospital—one of the first in the nation to offer HIV treatment—has
17,000 square feet on the street level, as well as 10,000 square feet
below-grade, which the winning plan proposes to use as exhibition space.
Connected by tunnels to St. Vincent’s, the site had been used as a
loading dock as well as for storage of liquid oxygen tanks, until the
hospital closed in 2010.
read more.
First & Only Museum of Gay & Lesbian Art Launches in New York City
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York City Receives Museum Accreditation from
State of New York
Even well after the cultural wars of the mid 1980’s, the representation of sexual difference in art has been aggressively policed. And America’s museums, with few notable exceptions, have been silent in the face of what is now the most vocal contemporary civil rights frontier. But there has never been a shortage of gay and lesbian art on display in America’s museums; what has been lacking is the courage to articulate that fact and to illustrate how the artist’s sexuality influenced his/her art. Now, for the first time, a new museum in New York will finally show what has been hiding in plain sight. With the recent accreditation by the State of New York as an official Museum, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art (MoGLA) has become the first and only museum of gay and lesbian art in the world.
Charles Leslie and his late partner Fritz Lohman – who organized their first small exhibition of gay art the same year as the Stonewall riots in 1969 – founded the new Museum with their multi-million dollar gift. It is now run by a Board of Directors, helmed by Prof. Jonathan David Katz, the co-curator of the recent Hide/Seek – the first major museum exhibit to focus on themes of gender and sexuality in modern American portraiture. The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art focuses on gender and sexuality, in the still relatively unexplored historical, socio-political and cultural context in which these gay and lesbian artists lived.
“While until recently, queer art exhibitions assumed an audience of mostly queer visitors, a new generation of queer cultural institutions instead seeks to make queer art visible to a mainstream audience. If we learned anything from the record setting attendance of Hide/Seek it was that people of all stripes were hungry for precisely the information the big museums have been censoring for decades now,” said Katz.
The museum has announced an aggressive programming schedule for the Fall of 2012, featuring the first major American retrospective of transgender photographer Del LaGrace Volcano. (http://www.dellagracevolcano.com/index.html). Widely exhibited in European museums, the American- born Volcano has been almost completely ignored in this country, and represents, according to Katz, “exactly the rationale for this new museum.” This fall will also see a major exhibit of legendary American artist Paul Thek’s early work in the context of his gay social circle of the fifties and sixties, and will include many works never exhibited before. While there was an exhibit of Paul Thek’s work at the Whitney Museum in 2010-11, these early works were not shown. “This will be the first exhibition of Thek ever mounted that reveals how powerfully his gayness structured his early work,” said Katz. (There will be a separate announcement about these shows coming later.).
The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art has a permanent collection of more than 6,000 objects spanning more than three centuries of gay and lesbian art. The new museum will mount historical, thematic, and survey exhibitions drawn not only from its permanent collection but also from museums and private collections around the world. Its programs include 6-8 major exhibitions a year, film screenings, plays, poetry readings, artist and curator talks, panel discussions, THE ARCHIVE (a quarterly newsletter focusing on gay and lesbian art and artists), a membership program, a research library and an archive of the permanent collection.
Though newly accredited as the first dedicated gay and lesbian art museum in the world, the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation, founded by Charles W. Leslie and Fritz Lohman, has for more than 20 years, persevered in its mission to exhibit, preserve and foster the works of gay and lesbian art and artists. The new museum will now exhibit and analyze a wider range of art and artists, national and international, while staying true to its mission. A non-profit, membership organization, the museum is committed to offering all of its exhibitions with no admission charge.
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art (MoGLA)
26 Wooster Street
(btwn Canal & Grand)
New, York, NY 10013
212.431.2609
Gallery Hours: Tues – Sat: Noon-6pm
Gran Fury Read My Lips Exhibition Jan 31-March 17
Gran Fury was an activist/artist collective that came together in 1988.
The
first comprehensive survey documenting the important AIDS activist art
collective’s work from 1987 to 1995 is set to open on January 31 at 80WSE. The exhibition, curated by Gran Fury and 80WSE Assistant Director Michael Cohen, runs through March 17, 2012.
Angered
by the political sphere’s refusal to address or react to the AIDS
crisis that devastated NYC beginning in the ‘80s and continuing through
the ‘90s, a group of designers and artists formed the collective, Gran
Fury, after meeting through ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash
Power).
Photographs
and records from the period help convey the urgency of the early AIDS
crisis that lead many into the streets to demand reforms that changed
public policy and saved countless lives. Gran
Fury’s work raised public awareness of AIDS and put pressure on
politicians, while sparking debate in sites ranging from the Illinois
Senate to the tabloid press of Italy.
Much
like today’s global activists leverage technology and social media to
organize and inform, Gran Fury utilized the tools available to them at
the time. Through media including billboards, postcards, video, posters,
paintings and giveaways, the group was able to heighten public
awareness of AIDS, while compelling politicians into action.
This is such an important piece of our history!
EVERYONE should go see this!
“Gran Fury: Read My Lips” Exhibition Information
80WSE Galleries
80 Washington Square East in Greenwich Village (Between West 4th Street and Washington Place)
Exhibition Dates: January 31 to March 17, 2012
Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30am to 6pm
The exhibition and panel are free and open to the public
Nearby Subways: A, B, C, D, E, F, M, N, R, 4 and 6
BestGayNewYork.com
Bergdorf Goodmans UNLEASHED Holiday Dog Video
To me, Bergdorf Goodman is one of the greatest stores – with the greatest holiday windows in New York City.
Last year they gave us a sneak peak behind the scenes look at how their amazing windows come to life.
This year, they have created a wonderful little video with a cast of dogs! UNLEASHED.
The Holiday Windows are up, lights are
hanging on Fifth Avenue, and there’s a line at the airport — it must be
time for our holiday video. “Unleashed” is here and it’s ready to
rumble around the internet. BG has always been a dog-friendly store but
for “Unleashed” we got downright intimate. Dogs had free run through
the store (the filming took place at 5am) and as you’ll see, they took
full advantage.
We were very happy to work with the Humane Society of New York,
which has been helping animals in need since 1904. We hope you enjoy
it — and we want to see photos of your dogs for an upcoming project, so
start planning your portraits.
Now it’s time to meet Salty and the rest of the pack. WATCH NOW
Holiday Shopping and Champagne at Holiday Train Show at Botanical Garden
Holiday Train Show Celebrates
20th Year at The New York Botanical Garden
Natural materials such as bark, twigs, stems, fruits, seeds, and pine cones, are used to create more than 140 scaled iconic buildings, including the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Radio City Music Hall, and the original Yankee Stadium.
A critically acclaimed and always eagerly anticipated tradition, the Holiday Train Show presents an enchanted New York,
surrounded by the glow of twinkling lights in America’s premier glasshouse, the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
Shopping and Champagne
Thursdays, December 1, 8, & 15, 6–8 p.m.
Enjoy
a night out and an evening viewing of the Holiday Train Show–and do
your holiday shopping, too!
Sip a complimentary champagne cocktail and
get expert advice from Shop in the Gardenstaff who will help you find
just the right gifts. Your ticket includes a voucher for $20 off a
purchase of $100
Not just for family outings, the Holiday Train Show offers grown-ups a chance to toast the town after dark with cocktails, shopping, and the twinkling glow of the season.
Handcrafted ornaments, shimmering votives, colorful textiles and
warm, spiced aromatics—at Shop in the Garden, this season is all about
ambiance.
Whether you’re looking for modern elegance or a touch of
whimsy, you’ll find the perfect accents to fill your home with the
holidays.
Stop by for Shopping and Champagne
during the first three Thursdays of December and have a walk through
the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory’s stunning holiday display—a New York in
miniature, with garden gauge trains threading their way over a
quarter-mile of track laid between more than 140 city landmarks, each a
handmade marvel.
Non-Member $30/Member $20 (Adults 21 and over)
Advance tickets recommended
The Botanical Garden is
easy to get to by public transportation or car!
Jack Mackenroth Calendar Signing Nov 16
Designer, athlete and
HIV/AIDS activist and educator Jack Mackenroth has had the priveledge of
shooting with some of the best photographers in the business. He has taken the best of the best images and crated a 15-month calendar , and 100% of the proceeds will go to charity!
Photographers
taking part in the project include Adam Bouska, Rick Day, Carsten
Fleck, Frank Louis, James Franklin, Karl Giant, Tommy Synnamon, Mattheus
Lian, Richard Gerst, Ray John Pila, Sonny Tong, Thomas Evans, Krys Fox
and Preston Cros.
“I
have amassed such an amazing collection of images that I wanted to put
out a calendar that will help to combat the silence and stigma
associated with being HIV-positive,” says Mackenroth. He adds, “If I can
raise money for HIV/AIDS research, it’s even better.”
Each
month of the 15 month calendar will
feature a different photographer with a very different style. It’s gorgeous! Jack will be signing calendars Nov. 16 at Boxers NYC. 7-10pm.
New Yorks Broadway FLEA MARKET & AUCTION Sept. 25
Broadway dreams can come true as you find showbiz treasures, meet the stars and bid on once-in-a-lifetime items and experiences at the 25th Annual Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction. Make your plans now to spend Sunday, September 25 with Broadway Cares and thousands of other theatre fans in Times Square and along West 44th Street for those one-of-a-kind keepsakes. This not-to-be-missed event for any serious Broadway theatergoer is free and open to the public and has been called one of the “Best Once-a-Year Markets” in New York City. From photos with your favorite Broadway star to buying that lost cast recording, signed show posters and Playbills, rare costume sketches or special gift for a theatre-lover you can’t find anywhere – this year’s Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction promises to offer something for everyone. Autograph Table & Photo Booth | Grand Auction Pre-Bids New for 2011 are special “flash auctions” which feature instant experiences with Broadway stars live on the Grand Auction stage, including: Among the shows signed up for tables are The Addams Family, Anything Goes, The Book of Mormon, Follies, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, The Phantom of the Opera, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Rock of Ages, Sister Act, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Wicked and Cirque Du Soleil’s Zarkana, as well as Actors’ Equity Association, The Actors Fund, Broadway Impact, The Broadway League, Givenik, Paper Mill Playhouse, Seth’s Broadway Chatterbox and United Scenic Artists. You also can place early bids now on dozens of unique theater items and experiences that will be offered throughout the day in the silent auction and in the day’s exciting finale, the live auction. Online pre-bidding ends at 12 pm ET on Saturday, September 24. For the first time ever, the Broadway Flea Market & Grand Auction will encompass all of 44th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, and will stretch across Broadway into Times Square, filling the wide pedestrian plaza between 43rd and 44th Streets.. “We look forward to turning this year’s construction challenge into a golden, sun-drenched opportunity to expand into Times Square’s wonderful pedestrian plazas,” BC/EFA executive director Tom Viola said. “Filling Broadway between 43rd and 44th Streets, there will be booths overflowing with theatrical memorabilia and at the end of the afternoon the Grand Auction. I hope you will take the few steps across Seventh Avenue with us, as you enjoy the high energy and activity that every year stretches down 44th Street to Eighth Avenue. Whatever the terrain, the best of Broadway shows up for the Broadway Flea Market. I hope you will too!” Dozens of tables from Broadway’s most popular shows will set up shop for what Time Out New York calls one of the “Best Once-a-Year Markets” in New York City. Fans can buy that lost cast recording, signed show posters and Playbills, rare costume sketches, props and special gifts theatre-lovers can’t find anywhere else. Silent auction lots offered every half-hour will give way to the live Grand Auction at the end of the day featuring a collection of unique items and experiences that will offer something for everyone. One of the most popular sites at Broadway’s “one-day sale” is the Celebrity Autograph Table at which your favorite stars from Broadway and Off-Broadway sign autographs and pose for photos in exchange for donations to BC/EFA. Last year, some of the big prizes at the grand auction included a chance to appear in “Wicked” that sold for a whopping $16,500 and a tank top worn by Daniel Craig in “A Steady Rain” and signed by Craig and co-star Hugh Jackman that fetched $6,500. The auction and market, which cost about $60,000 to produce, plus three other Broadway Cares/Equity Fight AIDS events – the Easter Bonnet Competition, Gypsy of the Year and Broadway Bares – helped the group last year award some $10 million in grants to The Actors Fund and to more than 400 AIDS and family service organizations.
Times Square & West 44th Street, NYC
• Spamalot karaoke with Tony Award-nominated Spamalot star Christopher Sieber
• An on-the-spot appearance in the hit Web series “Side by Side by Susan Blackwell“
• A coaching session with Chicago star Kara DioGuardi, former American Idol judge and head judge on Bravo’s Platinum Hit
• Your favorites tunes sung especially for you by Rent star Anthony Rapp and Wicked star Julia Murney
• Your outgoing voice mail message recorded in the voice of the diva of your choice by singer and comedian Christine Pedi, known for her spot-on impersonations.
It’s a flea market like no other!
Some of the celebrities this year willing to sign autographs for a $25 donation – or pose for a photo for $10 – are Adam Godley, Nick Adams, Patina Miller, Sutton Foster, Tony Sheldon, Rory O’Malley, Alice Ripley, Annaleigh Ashford, Josh Gad, Joyce DeWitt, Nikki M. James, Patrick Page, Victoria Clark, Roger Rees, Adam Pascal, Montego Glover, Beth Leavel and Charles Busch. (All appearances subject to change.)
BID RIGHT NOW LIVE ONLINE –
all kinds of cool things – like
DRINK UP WITH THE “GIRLS” OF PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT
Please check the website, Facebook and Twitter for an update on
Sunday morning and throughout the day if clouds are gray.
See you there!
BestGayNewYork.com
Andy Warhol’s New York – Dead But Not Forgotten
New Yorkers will savor glimpses of the city’s icons—vanished (Schrafft’s), current (Serendipity 3), and never realized (the Andy-Mat); art lovers will appreciate the listing of Warhol’s many gallery shows; anyone interested in fashion and celebrity will be intrigued by the details of his stylish world. There are sidebars on Warhol’s residences, favorite restaurants, and factories. Brief biographies of personalities in the book describe the cast of glittering characters that enter and leave the stage as Warhol’s mesmerizing story unfolds. Nine original drawings in the book were made specially for Andy Warhol’s New York City by the artist Vito Giallo, a former studio assistant of Warhol’s who assisted in the making of hundreds of Warhol’s ink blot drawings, and who later owned the antique store where Warhol bought thousands of items that were posthumously auctioned at Sotheby’s. The eighty sites are divided into four walks: A “star system” lets readers know at a glance what sites are still in existence, which have been razed, and which are still standing but no longer the Warhol-associated site described.
Andy, Andy everywhere.
Few figures have influenced New York City—its art, its commerce, its style, its nightlife, its legend s—like Andy Warhol. The eighty sites in Andy Warhol’s New York City bring to life the electrifying world he created and include his Factories and residences, as well as clubs, museums, boutiques, restaurants, and dozens of glamorous and gritty places in between.
I Upper East Side (above East 70th Street)
II Upper East Side (East 57th to East 68th Street)
III Midtown
IV Downtown (Murray Hill, Chelsea, Rose Hill, Union Square, East Village, Greenwich Village)
About $11 online now!
