ABOUT BOOKS
by Tee A. Corinne
A Face in the Crowd: Expressions of Gay Life in America, edited by John Peterson and Martin Bedogne. Los Angeles: Prospect Publishing, copyright 2002 (but wasn’t printed until 2003), 132 pp. $24.95 ($29.95 with CD), ISBN 0-9719618-0-8. This seems like a project where someone (the Matthew Shepard Foundation?) said, “Here’s the money. Make a book.” It is a pastiche of quotes and photographs (with lots of arty/empty white space). Photo credits are at the end of the book rather than accompanying the image. The question that kept going through my mind was why was so much money wasted on an oversized gaudy show of mostly mediocre photographs? The lack of identification of and contextualization for the photographs is staggering. Peterson is a screenwriter and Bedogne is a writer, filmmaker, and production company executive. I think their hearts are in the right place, but the product did not, for me, make the grade.
Focus on Living, photographs and interviews by Roslyn Banish. Amherst and Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2003, 263 pp., ISBN 1-55849-394-8, $24.95. Photographer, Roslyn Banish, tells us she is a mother and that it was her concern as a parent that led her to create this book. The photographs are beautiful and the interviews are concise and at the same time moving. There is strong ethnic and racial diversity in the subjects. Some, but not all, of the men are gay, one subject is a MTF transsexual, one is a lesbian.
Vacation in Ibiza, by Lawrence Schimel and Sebas. New York: Eurotica/NBMm 2003, 58 pp., $12.95, ISBN 1-56163-377-1. Vacation in Ibiza is the most gay-identified of the Lammy-aspiring books. Nicely-drawn, literate, funny, and sexy, it is an adult comic book about a couple of guys going to a gay vacation island.
For my earlier comments about Familiar Men, by Laurie Toby Edison (Shifting Focus Press, 2003), check out our QCA website: http://www.artcataloging.net/glc/qcan033/qcan033f.html
The final Lammy contender is Women Seeing Women: A Pictorial History of Women's Photography from Julia Margaret Cameron to Annie Leibovitz, Lonthar Schirmer, ed. New York: W.W.Norton, 2003. Why it was recommended for a Lammy beats me. There is lesbian content, but it is hidden and you have to know the who’s who coded to uncover it. So, here is a listing of images of or by lesbian and bisexual subjects or photographers.
There are photographs by Annie Leibovitz (lesbian) of Hillary Rodham Clinton and of Leibovitz’s mother (heterosexual) and a Vera Isler (heterosexual) photograph of Annie Leibovitz. Lesbian poet Edith Sitwell is shown photographed by heterosexual Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Lesbian photographer Gisèle Freund’s photographs in Women Seeing Women include a Virginia Woolf (bisexual), a child, a street scene, and Simone de Beauvior (heterosexual).
Bisexual subjects by heterosexual photographers include an image of Frida Kahlo by Mexican Lola Alvarez Bravo, Greta Garbo by Hollywood portraitist Ruth Harriet Louise, and Colette by Yvonne Chevalier. There is a female nude by bisexual photographer Ruth Bernhard and a double self-portrait by bisexual Hannah Höch, best known for her collage work. Images of bisexuals Tamara de Lempicka and Josephine Baker are by French photographer Madame d’Ora whose relationship preferences are unknown. Florence Deshon (an unknown subject) is photographed by lesbian or bi photographer Margarethe Mather.
There are three self-portraits by lesbian photographer Claude Cahun, but none are of her gender-bending images. Lesbian photographer Berenice Abbott is represented by images of Nora Joyce (wife of James) and bisexual Djuna Barnes, but her dykey-looking images (Jane Heap, Sylvia Beach, etc.) do not appear here.
Women Seeing Women was edited by a man and displays what I think of as a voyeuristic heterosexual male aesthetic, especially in the nudes and the image of an office worker peeing against an urban wall. The most lesbian-inflected image is of two languid women on a shawl-covered couch by the vaguely bisexual German photographer Germaine Krull. Biographical entries about the photographers make this book valuable, but queer content is not included, although marriages are. Publicity for the book asks “Is there really something like a ‘female’ perspective in photography? Do women photographers see women differently from their male colleagues? What stands out when we know that a photograph was taken by a woman?” What stands out here, for me, is that the images were chosen by a man.
The only lesbian art book, Dykes and Sundry Other Carbon-Based Life-Forms to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel (Alyson Publications), was nominated in the Humor category.
The Eighth Lively Art: Conversations with Painters, Poets, Musicians, and the Wicked Witch of the West by Wesley Wehr. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000, 301 pp. $17.95, ISBN 0-295-97956-9. These are warm, personal stories by a gay male artist (1929-2004) who spent most of his life living in Seattle, Washington. Wehr met Mark Tobey in 1949 and later knew other gay Northwest artists Morris Graves, Guy Anderson, Paul Dahlquist (photographer), and Pehr Hallsten (Tobey's companion). He writes about these and others including lesbian poet Elizabeth Bishop.
For more by Wesley Wehr, see “Hermosa Beach,” a memoir published in The Clear Cut Future, Astoria, OR: Clear Cut Press, 2003, 528 pp., $12.95, ISBN 0-9723234-1-4, www.clearcutpress.com.
Continuing the queer Northwest theme, but in a less open way, is Northwest Mythologies: The Interactions of Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, and Guy Anderson by Sheryl Conkelton and Laura Landau. Tacoma, WA: Tacoma Art Museum in conjunction with the University of Washington Press, 2003, 176 pp., $40.00, ISBN 0-295-98322-1.
After delving into Iridescent Light: The Emergence of Northwest Art by Deloris Tarzan Ament (Seattle: U. of Washington Press, 2002, 416 pp., $40.00 hardcover, ISBN 0-295-98147-4) for a second time and then speaking with the author during the Seattle CAA conference, I want to give the book a stronger recommendation. Of the twenty-one Seattle artists discussed, one-third are gay (six) or bisexual (one); these include Mark Tobey, Guy Anderson, Morris Graves, Leo Kenney, Wesley Wehr, Neil Meitzler, and John-Franklin Koenig who appears to be gay from biographical information here and available on the Internet, and is identified as gay by Wesley Wehr in private conversations, but is not discussed as such in Iridescent Light. At a panel discussion at Elliott Bay Bookstore in Seattle, I asked Ms. Ament why she didn’t use gay or homosexual as an index category in the book and she answered that it was because the words did not appear in the text. Are there really pros and cons of indexing ideas rather than just nouns? When I asked why she thought there were so many gay male artists prominent in the development of the Seattle art scene, she said it was because one of the top gallery dealers was gay. There were and are, apparently, other gay male gallery dealers and they wish to remain unidentified as such.
Beaton Portraits by Terence Pepper. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004, 240 pp., $50 hardcover, ISBN 0-300-10289-5 Includes stellar photographs of lesbian, gay, and bi stars of the arts such as Rudolf Nureyev, Louise Nevelson (without a hat), Andy Warhol and friends, Gilbert and George in a sweetly gay double portrait holding hands while touching each other’s leg, David Hockney, Carson McCullers, an almost fey Tennessee Williams, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Francis Bacon, one of the famous Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein images, an evocative double portrait of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, and much more. There are wonderful portraits of Beaton by, among others, Pavel Tchelitchew, and a lucid essay by Peter Conrad. Beaton’s portraits of Tchelitchew, Jean Cocteau, and Stephen Tennant, all from the 1920s are especially satisfying if you like dramatically-staged photographs, which I do.
Note: The full listing of finalists in all 20 categories for the Lambda Literary Awards may be found in Lambda book report, Feb. 2004, p. 40-41. The Literary Awards Gala is to be held June 3 at Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel, Chicago. http://www.lambdalit.org
Aletti, Vince, “Falling in love with love, and other critical dilemmas,” Village voice, Feb. 18-24, 2004, p. 83. Short but incisive discussion on infatuation with art works and their subjects, on occasion of Collier Schorr show and other recent exhibitions
Angus, Patrick. The L.A. drawings of Patrick Angus. Introd. by Douglas Blair Turnbaugh. New York: Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Museum; Berlin: Schwules Museum, 2003. $25.00 from the foundation
Armstrong, David E. Rare flesh. Photos by David E. Armstrong, with text by Clive Barker (his partner) and foreword by Rick Castro. New York: Universe Publishing; distributed by St. Martin’s Press, 2003. 144 p., chiefly col. ill. ISBN 0-7893-0845-2 ($40.00)
Ashbee. Felicity. Janet Ashbee: love, marriage, and the Arts & Crafts movement. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2002. 245 p. ISBN 0-8156-0731-8 ($39.95 hardbound) On the wife of C.R. Ashbee, who acknowledged his homosexuality; by their daughter
Avgikos, Jan, “Jack Pierson [at] Cheim & Read,” Artforum, v. 42, no. 5 (Feb. 2004), p. 150-151
Bain, Christian, “Becoming men: portrait paintings by Gilbert Lewis,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 12 (winter 2004), p. 1, 3
Bain, Christian, “Bob Ziering: the mystical ecstacy of love,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 11 (2003), p. 2
Bain, Christian, “Boys to men: paintings by Gilbert Lewis,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 11 (2003), p. 1-2
Bain, Christian, “The passion of Christ: the gay vision of Doug Blanchard,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 12 (winter 2004), p. 2, 6-7
Bain, Christian, “Slave to the rhythm: Patrick Angus and the gay 80s,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 11 (2003), p. 1
Behrens, Web, “Kidd in a candy store,” The advocate, #906 (Jan. 20, 2004), p. 86-87. On book designer Chipp Kidd and a new book about his work
Boas, Gary Lee. Gary Lee Boas: New York sex 1979-1985. Paris: Edition Kamel Mennour, 2003. 58.00 euros. Reviewed in Attitude (London), Apr. 2004, p. 10-11
Bordowitz, Gregg. Drive: the AIDS crisis is still beginning. Chicago: WhiteWalls, 2002. ISBN 0-945323-01-8 ($12 at Printed Matter) “A collection of essays, dialogues, and texts surrounding Gregg Bordowitz’s films Fast trip, Long drop, and Habit; and his exhibition Drive, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, April 6-July 7, 2002”
Boston, Nicholas, “Defining communal traits: a photographer chronicles surfers who tame the Malibu waves,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Apr. 1-7, 2004, p. 25. On Catherine Opie’s photos at Gorney, Bravin & Lee Gallery, New York
Boston, Nicholas, “How many labels make a man?: a gay Briton from India poses the lens to find some answers,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Mar. 4-10, 1002, p. 36, 39. On Sunil Gupta show at Sepia International, New York
Boston, Nicholas, “A lens’ youthful focus: Arnie Zane’s post-Stonewall, pre-Calvin photos celebrate the body’s commercial insouciance,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Feb. 5-11, 2004, p. 30-31
Boston, Nicholas, “The thug’s penetrating stare: Irish artist examines masculinity, objectification of Derry men trapped by violence,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Mar. 25-31, 2004, p. 21, 31. Willie Doherty is straight but “Non-specific threat” presents the possibility of homoeroticism, and the author gives a helpful but brief overview of the issue of skinhead and homoerotic, relative to this show
Braun, Alexander. Robert Gober: Werke von 1976 bis heute: amerikanische Kunst der Gegenwart im Spannungsfeld einer vernetzten Bildrealität. Nürnberg: Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg, 2003. 432 p. ISBN 3-928342-77-0
Breidenbach, Tom, “Frank Moore [at] Sperone Westwater,” Artforum, v. 42, no. 5 (Jan. 2004), p. 154-155
Bronson, A. A., “AA Bronson: excerpts from Nest,” BorderCrossings, v. 23, no. 1 (Feb. 2004), p. 53-65. Three color photos
Bryson, Norman, and others. Francis Bacon and the tradition of art. Barbara Steffen, editor. Milan: Skira; London: Thames & Hudson, 2004. 396 p. ISBN 8884917212
Camhi, Leslie, “An artist’s dual preoccupation with race and corporeality,” Village voice, Feb. 11-17, 2004, p. 85. On Nayland Blake show at Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
Camhi, Leslie, “Still Waters: as a photographer, the filmmaker continues to make deliciously perverse ‘little movies’,” Village voice, Feb. 18-24, 2004, p. 83. On John Waters show at New Museum, New York
Capozzola, Christopher, “Beauford Delaney’s closet was real,” letter to the editor in The gay & lesbian review, v. 11, no. 2 (Mar.-Apr. 2004), p. 5
Celant, Germano. SuperWarhol. Edited by Germano Celant. Milan: Skira; Monaco: Grimaldi Forum, 2003. 540 p. ISBN 8884916364
Cembalest, Robin, “Is that a phallus in your teacup?: [review of] Sex pots: eroticism in ceramics by Paul Mathieu, Rutgers University Press, 224 pages, $45,” Art news, v. 103, no. 1 (Jan. 2004), p. 102
Chaimowitz, Marc Camille, “... talks about Jean Cocteau,” Artforum, v. 42, no. 6 (Feb. 2004), p. 110-111. On his installation at Norwich School of Art and Design last fall which will travel to Angel Row, Nottingham, in May
Cogswell, Kelly, “Another black experience: gay daddy,” The gully.com, dated June 6, 2001 On A.J. Baltrop and his photos http://www.thegully.com/essays/gaymundo/010606gay_black.html
“Collectors of realism,” American arts quarterly, v. 20, no. 3 (summer 2003), p. 51-53, with two illus. of works by Claudio Bravo
Conner, Randy P., and David Hatfield Sparks. Queering creole spiritual traditions: lesbian, bay, bisexual, and transgender participation in African-inspired traditions in the Americas. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 2004. ca. 393 p. ISBN 1-56023-350-8 (hard cover : $59.95) ISBN 1-56023-351-6 (pbk : $29.95). Includes discussion of artists, filmmakers, musicians, and writers (book event at LGBT Center, New York, on June 22nd)
Cotter, Holland, “Arnie Zane [at] Paula Cooper Gallery, 521 West 21st Street, Chelsea, through Feb. 7,” New York times, Jan. 30, 2004, p. E39
Cotter, Holland, “By and about men, and they’re running with it,” New York times, Aug. 8, 2003, p. E2, 32. On the “Today’s man” show at John Connelly Presents, New York
Cotter, Holland, “In photos as well as films, John Waters blithely puts his worst foot forward,” New York times, Feb. 6, 2004, p. E37. On the occasion of his show at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York
Cotter, Holland, “Joe Ovelman [at] Oliver Kamm/5BE Gallery, 504 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, through tomorrow,” New York times, Apr. 30, 2004, p. E33
Cotter, Holland, “Pumping air into the museum, so it’s as big as the world outside,” New York times, Apr. 30, 2004, p. E31. On Fred Wilson and his show at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
Deleuze, Gilles. Francis Bacon: the logic of sensation. Translated and with an introd. by Daniel W. Smith, afterword by Tom Conley. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003. 264 p. ISBN 0-8166-4341-5 ($29.95)
DeNoyelles, Bill, “Subduing the demons in America: an interview with John Giorno,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 11 (2003), p. 9-16
Dougherty, Tate, “Wrestlers get body conscious: an obsession shared by young male athletes and debutante girls,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Feb. 19-25, 2004, p. 21, 29. On Collier Schorr show at 303 Gallery, NYC
Duncan, Michael, “Lari Pittman at Regen Projects [Los Angeles],” Art in America, Apr. 2004, p. 140
Enright, Robert, “Particularizing some general ideas: an interview with AA Bronson,” BorderCrossings, v. 23, no. 1 (Feb. 2004), p. 28-44
Failing, Patricia, “Gods and monsters: Gustave Moreau Museum, Paris,” Art news, v. 103, no. 4 (Apr. 2004), p. 95. One of “The top 10 museums (you never heard of)”; Failing discusses Moreau’s life and homoeroticism
Fellows, Will. Passion to preserve: gay men as keepers of culture. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. 288 p. ISBN 0299196801
Forbes, Rhomylly B., “Rattlesnake in a moving car,” A & u, issue 105 (July 2003), p. 24-25. The artist Rob Anderson interviewed by Forbes
From the molecular to the galactic: the art of Max Ernst and Alfonso Ossorio. Curated by Barbara Matilsky; text by Jessica Dallos and Colleen Thomas. Chapel Hill: Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2000. 32 p. ISBN 096538053X
Garrett, Craig, “Collier Schorr: personal best,” Flash art, v. 37, no. 234 (Jan.-Feb. 2004), p. 80-83
Glueck, Grace, “Charles Demuth [at] Zabriskie Gallery, 41 East 57th Street, Manhattan, through March 6,” New York times, Feb. 6, 2004, p. E39
Goicolea, Anthony. Anthony Goicolea. Text by Jane Harris. Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 2003. 152 p. + CD-ROM with videos, outtakes and interview by Gus Van Sant ISBN 1931885117 (regular ed.) ISBN 1931885222 (limited ed.)
González, Maria Elena. Un real estate. Edited by Leslie Luebbers. New York: Art in General; Memphis, TN: Art Museum of the University of Memphis; Houston, TX: DivrseWorks, 2003. 53 p. ISBN 0972389318 Exhibition catalog
Graham, Adam H., “Double exposure: homoerotic photography new & old,” Next, v. 11, no. 32 (Feb. 13, 2004), p. 26-27. On new book by Anthony Goicolea and exhibition of works by George Platt Lynes at John Stevenson Gallery, New York
Graham, Adam H., “Very becoming men: Gilbert Lewis makes his NYC gallery debut at Leslie Lohman Gay Art Foundation,” Next, v. 11, no. 35 (Mar. 5, 2004), p. 30-31
Grant, Catherine, “Jeff Burton [at] Sadie Coles HQ [London],” Flash art, v. 37, no. 234 (Jan.-Feb. 2004), p. 112
Gruse, Doug, “Gilbert Lewis,” Philadelpia gay news, Apr. 9-15, 2004, p. 25, 27, 32. On the occasion of the show of his work at Leslie-Lohman, New York
Hackett, Regina, “A well-worn topic is well worth another look at CoCA,” Seattle post-intelligencer, Feb. 27, 2004. Short review of “neoqueer”
Hallas, Roger, “AIDS and gay cinephilia,” Camera obscura: feminism, culture, and media studies, 52 (2003), p. 84-127
Hardman, Stewart, and David Jarrett, “Principal artists exhibiting at Adonis Art, part 2,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 12 (winter 2004), p. 16-19, with 7 color illus.
Harris, Lyle Ashton. Lyle Ashton Harris. With an essay by Anna Deavere Smith. New York: Gregory R. Miller & Company, in collaboration with CRG Gallery, 2003. 54 p. ISBN 0-974-36480-0 ($25 from the gallery, 535 West 22nd St., New York 10011)
Harter, John Burton. The drawings of J.B. Harter. Edited by Charles W. Leslie. [New Orleans]: John Burton Harter Charitable Trust; New York: Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, 2003. 91 p. ISBN 0-9745383-0-2
Haywood, Robert, “Robert Gober’s Virgin and Drain,” Thresholds, v. 23 (2001), p. 36-43. Analysis of Gober’s exposure and undercutting of the Virgin Mary myth and the Catholic doctrine of natural law
Hennessy, Christopher, “Did being gay matter?: [review of] The first time I met Frank O’Hara ... by Rick Whitaker, Four Walls Eight Windows, 231 pages, $20,” The gay & lesbian review, v. 11, no. 2 (Mar.-Apr. 2004), p. 45, 47
Henry, Max, “Matthew Buckingham at Murray Guy [New York],” Art in America, Mar. 2004, p. 130-131
Hirsch, Faye, “Nicole Eisenman at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art [Cornell University],” Art in America, Feb. 2004, p. 129
Huber, Hermann J., “Rinaldo Hopf: der Herr der goldenen Kerle,” Kerle, Nr. 44 (Dez. 2003-Jan. 2004), p. 8-13
Huck, Brigitte, “Matthew Buckingham [at] Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig [Vienna],” Artforum, v. 42, no. 5 (Jan. 2004), p. 162
Hudson, Mike, and Chad Graham, “Censorship: the big chill,” The advocate, #914 (May 11, 2004), p. 48-53
Indiana, Robert. Robert Indiana: recent paintings. Essay by Nathan Kernan. New York: Paul Kasmin Gallery, 2003. 14 p., 13 leaves of plates. ISBN 0971325952
Israel, Kobi, “In the realm of the senses: photographer Kobi Israel talks to A&u’s Lester Strong about the emotional interface of art and AIDS,” A & u, issue 113 (Mar. 2004), p. 18-19
Jarrett, David, “Adonis Art, London’s only gay art gallery,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 11 (2003), p. 3, 18-20, with short description of principal artists by Stewart Hardman
Johnson, Ken, “Karlheinz Weinberger [at] Nicole Klagsburn, 526 West 26th Street, Chelsea, through Jan. 17,” New York times, Jan. 9, 2004, p. B41
Johnson, Philip. Layout: Philip Johnson im Gespräch mit Rem Koolhaas und Hans Ulrich Obrist = Philip Johnson in conversation with Rem Koolhaas and Hans Ulrich Obrist. Köln: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2003. 120 p. ISBN 3883755303 Text in German and English
Johnston, Brad, “Celebrity survivor,” (not only) blue, no. 48 (Jan. 2004), p. 32-37. On Michael Childers and his show at Palm Springs Desert Museum
Kahn, Howie, “Automatonic Andy,” Art news, v. 103, no. 2 (Feb. 2004), p. 40. On the inclusion of automaton Warhol in “The uncanny” curated by Mike Kelley at the Tate Liverpool (Feb. 20 through May, 2004). The immortal Warhol
Kennedy, Sean, “Black celebration: photographer David E. Armstrong and partner Clive Barker collaborate on Rare flesh, a photography book with words,” HX magazine, Jan. 30, 2004, p. 26-31, with 5 illus.
Kennedy, Sean, “Splice of life: John Waters changes the cinematic experience with his exhibit at the New Museum,” HX magazine, issue 651 (Feb. 27, 2004), p. 24-25
Kennedy, Sean, “Unmasked and anonymous: a new exhibit at Leslie-Lohman unveils the undiscovered art of Patrick Angus and the seedy underworld of ’80s peep-shows,” HX magazine, issue 645 (Jan. 16, 2004), p. 24-28, with 4 col. illus.
Kernan, Nathan. Robert Indiana. New York: Assouline, 2003. 79 p. ISBN 2843235251
Kinetz, Erika, “Honky-tonk days,” New York times, Feb. 22, 2004, p. CY 7. On photographer Alvin J. Baltrop and his photos of the West Side piers and waterfront, New York, 1970s-1980s
Knobel, Paul. EMHA: an encyclopedia of male homosexual art and its reception history. Sydney : Artistica, 2004. CD-ROM
Krach, Aaron, “Far enough away,” A & u, issue 105 (July 2003), p. 12. “Now that eighties styles and sounds have been rehashed, maybe it’s time to relive the intensity of the decade that introduced AIDS”
Kundzicz, Walter. Champion. Frankfurt/Main; New York: Goliath, 2003. 368 p. ISBN 3-936709-05-X ($37.95 hardbound) Champion Studio photographs in the “physique” genre from the late 1950s-1960s; with introd. by Reed Massengill, and biographical essay by Kundzicz
LaBruce, Bruce, “The Reich stuff,” Attitude, Apr. 2004, p. 18. Interviewed on the occasion of the opening of his new film “Raspberry Reich” (opens in May)
Landi, Ann, “Thinking outside the bed: [review of] Art--a sex book by John Waters and Bruce Hainley, Thames & Hudson, 208 pages, $29.95,” Art news, v. 103, no. 1 (Jan. 2004), p. 102
Leffingwell, Edward, “Danica Phelps at LFL [New York],” Art in America, Apr. 2004, p. 127-128. On her live-in installation and exhibition of her lists entitled “Integrating sex into everyday life”
Leffingwell, Edward, “Jack Smith at Mitchell Algus [New York],” Art in America, Apr. 2004, p. 135
Luckenbill, Dan, “The beloved’s bright wings,” The gay & lesbian review, v. 11, no. 2 (Mar.-Apr. 2004), p. 32-34. On Greek artist Yannis Tsarouchis and his paintings of men in and out of uniform
Maestas, Bobb Neoboy, “Of boys, boots and things: an interview with erotic artist Drub,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 12 (winter 2004), p. 15
Makos, Christopher. Warhol memoir. Milano: Charta, 2003. 118 p. ISBN 8881584468
Mallon, Thomas, “Deep focus: Cecil Beaton’s photographs flattered his subjects; his diaries did not,” The New Yorker, v. 79, no. 34 (Nov. 10, 2003), p. 116-120
Mapplethorpe, Robert. Robert Mapplethorpe. Düsseldorf: te Neues, 2003. 91 p. (Stern spezial Fotografie, portfolio no. 33) ISBN 357019423X Text in German and English
Masello, David, “My friend Lodovico: finding a soul mate on Upper Fifth Avenue,” New York times, Feb. 8, 2004, p. CY 3. In love with Bronzino’s portrait of Lodovico Capponi at the Frick Collection, New York
Massengill, Reed. The male ideal: Lon of New York and the masculine physique. Foreword by Vince Aletti. New York: Universe; London: Troika, 2004. 160 p. ISBN 0789309963
Mattison, Robert S. Robert Rauschenberg: breaking boundaries. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. 277 p. ISBN 0-300-09931-2
McLean, Gareth, “And God created... porn,” Attitude, Apr. 2004, p. 64-68. On Physique pictorial and others
Meyer, Richard, “Two on one,” Artforum, v. 42, no. 6 (Feb. 2004), p. 25-26. Review of Robert Rauschenberg: breaking boundaries by R.S. Mattison and Random order: Robert Rauschenberg and the neo-avant-garde
Mogutin, Slava, “From Russia with lust,” Attitude, Apr. 2004, p. 32-35. Interviewed on the occasion of a show of his photographs at RARE Gallery, New York
Nichols, Matthew Guy, “Jack Pierson at Cheim & Read,” Art in America, Apr. 2004, p. 127
Noh, David, “Pre-AIDS innocence,” New York blade, Jan. 9, 2004, p. 23. On Patrick Angus and show of his work at Leslie-Lohman
Paini, Dominique. Cocteau. Edited by Dominique Paini, translated by Trista Selous. Seattle: Distributed by University of Washington Press for Paul Holberton Publishing, 2004. 416 p. ISBN 1-903470-17-X (pbk : $60.00)
Patrick, Robert, “Patrick Angus,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 11 (2003), p. 4
Petry, Michael. The trouble with Michael. Work and text by Michael Petry, essays by Trond Borgen and Andrew Brewerton. London: Artmedia Press, 2001. 144 p. ISBN 1-902889-03-7
Phillips, Tony, “John Waters embraces life’s changes,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Feb. 26-Mar. 3, 2004, p. 42-43. On Waters exhibition at New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York and film screenings at Pioneer Theater
Pollack, Barbara, “Collier Schorr [at] 303,” Art news, v. 103, no. 5 (May 2004), p. 151-152
Pollack, Barbara, “Glenn Ligon at D’Amelio Terras,” Art in America, no. 5 (May 2004), p. 153-154
Potterf, Tina, “Showcase for diversity of contemporary ‘queer art’,” Seattle times, Feb. 27, 2004. Long review of “neoqueer”
“Race, sex and black/Latina/o performance,” Brownstone (supplement to Washington Square news, NYU student newspaper), Jan./Feb. 2004. 23 p.
Rauschenberg, Robert, “Growing old, artfully: an art star of the 50’s on being 78, partly paralyzed and searching for extraordinary ordinariness,” New York times magazine, Feb. 15, 2004, p. 13. Interviewed by Deborah Solomon. One of the questions: Aren’t you having another show now at Yale? Answer: Yes. I am not happy with it. It was organized by the gay studies department, whatever that is. It’s not an approach that makes sense. I refused to give them permission to reproduce the works in a catalog.
Reed, Arden, “Gay Block at University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque,” Art in America, no. 3 (Mar. 1004), p. 136. Review of “Bertha Alyce: a photographic biography” (Alyce is Block’s mother; the photos and texts draw parallels between Alyce’s protracted affair with a married man and Block’s abandoning her own marriage to begin an ongoing relationship with a woman
Reid, Calvin, “Funk renaissance: in the lush multi-screen projection ‘Baltimore,’ filmmaker Isaac Julien gives a postmodern, sci-fi twist to ‘blaxploitation’ conventions of the 1970s,” Art in America, no. 3 (Mar. 2004), p. 92-95
Robinson, Andrew, “Healthy dose of queer attitude: Nayland Blake subverts familiar cultural narratives, often with humor,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Feb. 5-11, 2004, p. 21. Review of show at Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
Rosenblum, Robert. Introducing Gilbert & George. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2004. 160 p. ISBN 0-500-28485-7 (pbk : $24.95)
Saint Sebastian: a splendid readiness for death. Essays by Richard A. Kaye, Wolfgang Fetz, Carlo Santoli, Germain Greer, and Gerald Matt. Wien: Kunsthalle Wien; Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag; New York: distrib. by D.A.P., 2003. 143 p. ISBN 3-956646-45-7
Schorr, Collier. Collier Schorr. New York: 303 Gallery; London: Modern Art, 2003. 32 p. of col. illus. ISBN 0-9535180-1-9
Schorr, Collier. Conquistadores, 1996-2002. Salamanca: Corsorcio Salmanca 2002, Centro de Arte de Salamanca, 2002. 141 p. ISBN 8495719304
Sirius, Jean. My feet go to Europe and Signs of peace in Europe and This is me in Europe. three small self-published books available for $5 each from Sirius Books, P.O. Box 9665, Oakland, CA 94613
Smalls, James, “Slavery is a woman: ‘race,’ gender and visuality in Marie Benoist’s Portrait d’une négresse (1800).” Nineteenth-century art worldwide, issue 6 (Feb. 2004) (ca. 34 p.) Available online at http://19thc-artworldwide.org
Smith, Catherine. Women in pants: manly maidens, cowgirls, and other renegades. New York: Abrams, 2003. 183 p. ISBN 0-8109-4571-1. Lots of early pictures
Smith, Jack. Jack Smith & Marie Antoinette. New York: Blue Chip Publishing Corp., 2003. 32 p. ISBN 0-9635724-1-5 ($20 at New Museum). In conjunction with show at Mitchell Algus Gallery, New York
Spiher, David, “Overlapped spaces: Sheila Pepe’s installation and drawings explore urban superstructures,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Mar. 11-17, 2004, p. 27. On her show at Susan Inglett Gallery, New York
Spiher, David, “Slackers and blur disease: few of David Armstrong’s photographs rise above their overused conception,” Gay city news (New York), Feb. 12-18, 2004, p. 19. On his show at Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
Spiher, David, ‘Taking a run at the male cliché: Jane Harris curates a look at the psychosexual tensions of a boy and his mom,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Jan. 22-28, 2004, p. 21. On “Mama’s boy” at White Columns, New York
Strong, Lester, “Survivor aesthetic: Harmony Hammond talks to A & u’s Lester Strong about art, the body, and violence in a time of AIDS,” A & u, issue 111 (Jan. 2004), p. 20-21, 38, with 5 illus.
Stuart, Robert, “Patron,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 11 (2003), p. 7-8. On Patrick Angus
Stuart, Robert, “Theatre,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 11 (2003), p. 5-6. On Patrick Angus and his paintings
Summers, Robert A. “Queer(ing) Warhol: Andy Warhol’s (self-)portraits” - California Museum of Photography, University of California, Riverside - online exhibit at http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/photography/warhol/
Tallmer, Jerry, “Decency beheld with hindsight: former N.E.A. recipients recall Supreme Court showdown and renounce political muddling,” Gay city news (N.Y.), Apr. 22-28, 2004, p. 22, 38-39. On a panel at New York University reviewing the NEA 4, the first time they had shared a stage
Terry, Alexis, “Reading Gay Block’s mind?” letter to the editor, Art in America, no. 5 (May 2004), p. 43
Turnbaugh, Douglas Blair, “Wes Hempel’s American rudder,” The archive: the journal of the Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, no. 12 (winter 2004), p. 5
Turner, Jonathan, “Nude awakening,” (not only) blue, issue 48 (Jan. 2004), p. 38-45, with 7 illus., dating from 1870 to 1999. Turner talks to director and curator Peter Weiermair about “Il nudo fra ideale e realtà” at Galleria d’arte moderna, Bologna, Italy, Jan. 22-May 9, 2004
Turner, Mark W. Backward glances: cruising the queer streets of New York and London. London: Reaktion Books, 2003. 191 p. ISBN 1-86189-180-6 ($27.00 pbk)
Valdez, Sarah, “Catherine Opie at Regan Projects,” Art in America, no. 5 (May 2004), p. 170
Vary, Adam B., “Stars in his eyes: photographer Michael Childers mounts a retrospective of his A-list oeuvre--and recalls his long relationship with late filmmaker John Schlesinger,” The advocate, #907 (Feb. 3, 2004), p. 61-63, with 4 illus. and portrait
Verner, Greg, “Not for every coffee table: [review of] Art--a sex book [by] John Waters and Bruce Hainley, Thames & Hudson, 208 pages, $29.95 (paper),” The gay & lesbian review, v. 11, no. 2 (Mar.-Apr. 2004), p. 42-43
Warhol, Andy. Andy Warhol: 5 deaths. New York: Stellan Holm Gallery, 2002. 64 p. ISBN 0971168717
Warhol, Andy. Andy Warhol: kiku. New York: Paul Kasmin Gallery, 2004. 48 p., with 44 col. illus. ISBN 0-9713259-9-5
Warhol, Andy. Andy Warhol: the late work. Edited by Mark Francis, concept Mattjis Visser. Munich; New York: Prestel, 2004. 3 v. ISBN 3791330934 (English ed.) - v. 1: paintings; v. 2: photographs, films, videos, books, interviews; v. 3: texts - published in conjunction with an exhibition at four venues in Europe (see calendar)
Warhol, Andy. Andy Warhol: time capsule 21. Cologne: Dumont; New York: distrib. by D.A.P., 2003. 286 p. ISBN 3832173838 Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh) and the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main
Waters, John, interviewed by Mim Udovitch, “Cuts off the heads, loves the elbows: John Waters as a legitimate (but please, not respectable) photographer,” New York times, Feb. 8, 2004, p. AR 30. In conjunction with the exhibition at the New Museum
Waters, John. John Waters: change of life. Exhibition co-curated by Marvin Heiferman and lisa Phillips; with contributions by Marvin Heiferman and others. New York: Abrams in association with the New Museum of Contemporary Art, 2004. 142 p. ISBN 0-8109-4306-9 (cloth) ISBN 0-8109-9175-6 (pbk)
White, Anthony. Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican modernism. Edited by Anthony White. Seattle: Distributed by University of Washington Press for National Gallery of Australia, 2002. 96 p. ISBN 0-642-54153-1 (pbk : $29.95)
Wolfe, Steve. Steve Wolfe. With an essay by Edmund White. New York: Luhring Augustine, 2003. 84 p. Exhibition catalog
Woodward, Richard B., “Home team advantage: on gallery walls, the art kids are finally taking on the jocks,” New York times, Feb. 15, 2004, p. AR17, with illus. of works by Mark Wyse, Brian Finke, and Tracey Moffat
Yablonsky, Linda, “How far can you go?: with male nudes in full display, pornography a common source material, and explicit imagery the norm in galleries and museums, sex in art has become fun, disturbing, raunchy--even cerebral,” Art news, v. 103, no. 1 (Jan. 2004), p. 104-109
Yeros, Dmitris, “Animal instincts,” gallery of photos by Dmitris Yeros, text by David Mills, (not only) blue, issue 48 (Jan. 2004), p. 62-69
Young, Paul, “Art’s desire,” (not only) blue, no. 48 (Jan. 2004), p. 28-31. On John Waters and his new book Art--a sex book
While visiting the bookshop at the Portland Art Museum (Oregon) recently, I noticed The “divine” Guido by Richard Spear. I was struck by the note in the introduction about the author being influenced by the coming out of his brother. The book includes a chapter on Guido Reni and sexuality.
Spear discusses contemporary accounts of Reni’s effeminacy and virginity, as well as addressing the issue of sexuality applied with historical hindsight. He particularly analyzes Reni’s “Sebastian” and recurrences of Reni iconography in the photographs of F. Holland Day around 1900, in Yukio Mishima’s autobiographical novel of homosexual self-discovery Confession of a mask (1949), and other instances including the placement of Reni’s half-length “Saint Sebastian” on an easel in the salon in the 1992 remake of “Suddenly last summer.” The combination of Sebastian with Reni’s rapturous looks makes for some compelling imagery.
Admitting that no certain claims of sexual preference can be made about Guido Reni, Spear’s discussion of documentary and art-historical evidence makes for interesting reading.
Re-viewed by Sherman Clarke
Note about book reviews and listings:
If you are interested in reviewing any of the books or websites listed above and which have not already been reviewed in the newsletter, please contact the editors. Photocopies of many of the articles listed here are available from the editors for a month or two after the date of this issue. Send your request for a photocopy, with street mailing address, to Sherman Clarke at the address in the listing of officers on page two.