The Leonardo of Lawns

Chris Naylor, who reconstructed the Mona Lisa for the The Da Vinci Code film, has taken his skills to a lawn in south London.

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Obama and McCain Campaign Posters Under the Influence

Meaningful Distractions notes (via jockohomo) that the poster the Obama campaign used to publicize his speech yesterday in Berlin pays tribute to the German Bauhaus movement:

"Predictably, once the flyers came out looking 'different' from what we’re used to seeing, the Republicans started to throw around their new favorite attack word for Obama: 'arrogant.' They love using it — these days Obama can’t brush his teeth in the morning without the Republicans telling us how the flavor of toothpaste he uses somehow reveals how 'breathtakingly arrogant' he is....But here’s what the Republicans and even some moderate voices are missing: this campaign poster isn’t evidence of a 'messiah' complex; it pays homage to a pivotal era in graphic design history: the German Bauhaus movement during the early 20th century (see above right for example)."

Of course, as I noted yesterday, John McCain uses a similar tactic. He just pays tribute to Michael Bay war movies.

Now who was that with the Messiah complex???

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If You're Lonely...

This is one of a series of images by Jesse Finley Reed at a show opening tonight at Sloane Fine Art in New York. The series is comprised of backlit portraits of men he met in online communities in Berlin and New York.

(more at Band of Thebes)

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Paper Claims to Out Street Artist Banksy as Robin Gunningham

The Brit tabloid Mail on Sunday claims that mysterious street artist/prankster Banksy is Robin Gunningham, a former public schoolboy who hasn't been seen or heard from for years:

"The notion that Banksy is Gunningham, 34, who was educated at the £9,240-a-year Bristol Cathedral School, will shock the artist’s fans, fond of their hero’s ‘anti-establishment’ stance...Rumours have persisted that the artist is called Robin Banks, that he is from Bristol, and that his parents think he is a painter and decorator...Gunningham’s former school pal Scott Nurse said: ‘He was one of three people in my year who were extremely talented at art. I am not at all surprised if he is Banksy.’...Records reveal Gunningham once lived with artist Luke Egan, who later exhibited with Banksy. Mr Egan initially denied knowing Gunningham but later admitted he had lived with him...People who know Gunningham are now unable to say what has become of him. His father Peter, who lives in Kingsdown, Bristol, denied that the man in the photograph was his son, and his mother Pamela was surprised by the picture, then denied she even had a son, let alone one called Robin. Banksy’s publicist would neither confirm nor deny whether the artist was Robin Gunningham."

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Obama-Lincoln Gets the Rainbow Treatment in Boston

A show called "a politic" opened over the holiday weekend at Gallery XIV in Boston. Accompanying it was a legally-posted Warholized billboard installation of Ron English's "Obama-Lincoln" fusion portrait. Given its prismatic tints, it's a shame it wasn't up for gay pride.

UPDATE: The enthusiasm of English fans, who have pasted the image all around the city, has caused a major stink among local businesses and residents.

AnimalNewYork has a slide show of the installation, and you can check out a video
AFTER THE JUMP...

(via slam x hype)

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Winter Path

"May Orchard," 1985, collage on panel

I’m not sure what Banksy is up to (though I sure wish Andy had enlightened me about him several years ago, when I could have afforded to buy up all of his work), but I admire that Towleroad champions artists and films from time to time. On my last day of filling in for Andy, I wanted to introduce you to the artist who most inspires me: modernist painter Margo Hoff, who I had the great pleasure of meeting about 10 years ago.

I've never inquired about Margo's sexuality, but her work—edgy, formally provocative, forward-thinking—definitely has a queer appeal to my eye. Margo herself fits this description, that of a completely self-made woman with a personal style that often set her apart in even the crowd she used to hang out with, which included Berenice Abbott (Margo taught her how to do linoleum cuts) and Georgia O’Keefe.

A quote from Margo as relayed by her good friend Gordon Wallace: "What difference does it make where you came from? It's not about that. It's about what you choose for yourself!" (Pictured at left: "Dream of Flying, 1950, oil)

Margo just celebrated her 98th birthday with champagne and cake. Although she no longer paints, she still lives in the same spartan loft on 14th Street where she worked for four decades. I'm told she's always lived simply because her life was so focused on the things that would enhance her work, not her comfort—great natural light, plenty of open space for work tables, a place to store her canvasses.

"The Crowd," 1960, paper collage and acrylic (from the Met)

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1910, she would, as a child, make tiny figures of animals and people out of the clay left behind by local well-diggers. She nearly died at 11 from typhoid fever, and during the subsequent months of bedrest her imagination came alive; she began drawing, and from this point on knew that art would be the center of her life. In her early twenties, she made her way to Chicago and art school. Her early works were figurative, but with a singular vision that soon attracted interest.

Margo first exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1944. I worked in the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue across the street for years in the '80s and '90s, so it's fun to imagine Margo in that setting. By 1950, Margo was showing her work around the world, including a one-woman show at the Paris Wildenstein Galleries in 1955, and later representation by Betty Parsons in New York. Her work is in the Whitney, the Metropolitan, Biblioteque Nationale Paris, the Library of Congress, the National Gallery, London's Victoria and Albert and many other institutions. She was even an artist-in-residence in Uganda (pictured).

She has been a Manhattanite since 1960; I think my adopted hometown should treasure her for her innovative work and longevity, not least because it was in New York that Margo plunged into what would become her defining medium—canvas collage.

Why do I love her work? Because it's not blatantly figurative, but even her more abstract pieces slyly suggest their intentions. As far as I’ve seen, everything she liked enough to finish is exquisite, often with a sobering, chilly beauty.

"Winter Path," 1985, collage on panel (from my collection)

I'm writing about Margo partly because Margo's work has been enjoying an incredible late-life revival—her pieces have knocked down big prices at various auctions, she has a painting on view in the show The Big Picture: A New View of Painting in Chicago at the Chicago History Museum and will show at Corbett vs Dempsey, also in Chicago, next year.

Thanks for indulging me in my endorsement of this living legend. I've bought several of Margo's pieces over the years, but I promise my plug for her is not to help drive their prices up—I won't be interested in selling them until I'm 98 and ready to stop working so hard.

Find out more at MargoHoff.com.

Touching up a painting before an opening.

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NYC Goes Chasing Waterfalls

In what's being billed as New York's largest public art project since Christo and Jean-Claude's "The Gates" back in winter of 2005, Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has installed four waterfalls, ranging in height from 90 to 120 that will appear from June 26 to Oct. 13 and run from 7am. to 10pm around New York City. The falls are located at Pier 35, under the Brooklyn Bridge (above), on Governor's Island, and between Piers 4 and 5 on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. The NYT talked to Eliasson.

The project looks pretty cool in this slide show from the NYT, although the first shots under drab gray skies from an amateur lens feel less than enthralling. I guess I'll have to see it in person and up close.

Clips of two of the waterfalls, AFTER THE JUMP...

Brooklyn Bridge Waterfall from jakedobkin on Vimeo.

Under the Brooklyn Bridge (via Gothamist).

And the one near the Manhattan Bridge, on a test run...

The New York City Waterfalls [official site]

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News: Rea Carey, Justice Dept, Olympics, Monet, Barack Obama

Conservative Orange County Register says high court's decision on marriage was justified.

MAG: What's on Obama's iPod.

Matt Damon's summer look: flab with pornstache.

Rea Carey to succeed Matt Foreman as executive director of Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

REPORT: Justice Dept. politicized hiring practices to favor Republican candidates: "'Many qualified candidates' were rejected for the department’s honors program because of what was perceived as a liberal bias, the report found. Those practices, the report concluded, 'constituted misconduct and also violated the department’s policies and civil service law that prohibit discrimination in hiring based on political or ideological affiliations.'" FLASHBACK: DOJ Looking into Possible Firing of Atty Over Sexual Orientation...

Ad campaign for Dexter in Portugal features severed limbs in butcher cases and knifed corpses on the street!

British soldiers see 13 UFOs in sky above barracks: "I was on duty in the guard room when the other boys outside began shouting. I went out to see what the commotion was about and could see thirteen craft in the skies. They were zig-zagging, but I filmed two before they disappeared. They were like rotating cubes with multiple colours. I made a full report to my commanding officers and gave them my footage. The other lads were as amazed by it as I was."

Monet water lily painting goes for $80.5 million at Christie's, doubling previous record for the artist.

Washington D.C. city councilman and former mayor Marion Barry says he would support a bill legalizing same-sex marriage there.

Bill Clinton offers support to Obama; Obama asks donors to raise money for Clinton.

Orlando Bloom reveals his back end in the Canary Islands.

Justin Timberlake's 'Play' fragrance may smell clean but his feet are filthy.

Out swimmer Andrew Langenfeld to compete for a spot on the Olympic team in the 100-meter butterfly.

NYC Chelsea nightclub 1 Oak reacts to reports yesterday that they covered up a gay bashing at the venue. Page Six: "Club sources say the night was not promoted as a 'gay night' and that the attacker was re strained by security but broke away. The victim said 1Oak owner Scott Sartiano insisted on giving him a car to the hospital instead of calling an ambulance. A rep for the club said, '1Oak is committed to providing an environment of safety and security to patrons every night. This incident was handled by security and staff immediately and this type of inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated at 1Oak.'"

Art Fag City talks to Nayland Blake about who they'd all like to fuck.

Anti-gay assault suspect under arrest in Minneapolis: "A gay Twin Cities man, the apparent victim of a hate crime, was badly beaten last Saturday. He claims a stranger approached him near 6th and Cedar Ave. South in Minneapolis, and asked if he was gay. The victim answered yes proudly, and the suspect hit the man in the face, yelling that he hated homosexuals. Abdirizak Mohamed has been charged with assault in the fourth degree with bias—a hate crime with enhanced penalties."

Michelle Obama to give keynote address at Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council Gala DNC fundraiser on Thursday in New York.

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News: Quentin Tarantino, Ugly Dog, Bulgaria, Michelangelo

First-ever "Rainbow Parade" set for Czech Republic: "he National Party (Národní strana) sees the event as a 'pressure on the majority, pressure that is disgusting and awkward, pressure leading to social acceptation of the children being adopted by homosexual couples.' Members of the party are prepared to protest against the march. Police are evaluating potential risks in order to determine what security measures will need to be applied."

Quentin Tarantino accepts Filmmaker on the Edge award from the Provincetown Film Festival. John Waters: "You helped reinvent John Travolta as a man and I reinvented him as a woman."

DAD: Amy Winehouse in first stages of Emphysema.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to officiate today at marriage of American Beauty producer Bruce Cohen to art consultant Gabriel Catone: "After the state Supreme Court struck down a ban on same-sex marriage last month, Villaraigosa promised to preside at as many ceremonies as possible. But when the ruling took effect last week and other political officials were presiding over same-sex weddings, Villaraigosa was in Israel on a city trip."

Nationalists in Bulgaria plan "Week of Intolerance" in response to upcoming gay parade.

Gay health therapist Michael Shernoff has died at the age of 57, of pancreatic cancer.

Book: Michelangelo hid secret messages in Sistine Chapel attacking the Pope.

Jane Fonda on her first screen test, with Warren Beatty: "At the time I suspected that Warren might be gay, because he was so cute and had so many unusual, intellectual friends. Well, how wrong can you be?"

Brooklyn appellate judges to hear arguments on New York Governor David Paterson's directive to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages: "he case being heard today, Godfrey v. Spano, will consider whether recognition of same-sex marriages first requires approval from the Legislature. So far the Legislature hasn't passed any laws relating to gay marriage. Whatever decision the Brooklyn appeals court reaches in the Godfrey case is sure to be quickly appealed to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals."

Gerard Butler is a fashionista.

Dog named world's ugliest.

Salon bookmark: Gore Vidal's Inconvenient Truths.

Australian city council apologizes to gays for incident that happened 20 years ago.

SF Chronicle columnist's brief encounter with David Beckham: "Beckham is, for lack of a better word, man-tastic. He leans on a stool, wearing a crisp white shirt and silver tie, having just taken off his cream suit jacket. His hair is cut short and simple, ceding attention to his long stubble, which covers his face except for two Band-Aid-size vertical stripes shaved clean on either side of his goatee."

They got him!

The NYT takes a closer look at pregnant trans man Thomas Beatie: "Partly a carnival sideshow and partly a glimpse at shifting sexual tectonics, his image and story powered past traditional definitions of gender and exposed a realm that seemed more than passing strange to some observers — and altogether natural to those who inhabit it. 'This is just a neat human-interest story about a particular couple using the reproductive capabilities they have,' said Mara Kiesling, director of the National Center for Transgender Equality in Washington. 'There’s really nothing remarkable' about the Beatie pregnancy, she said."

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Mexico City Metro Stop Features Look at Same-Sex Relationships

The subway in Mexico City at Metro Centro Medico has an exhibit of photographer Oscar Sanchez on display called "Familias Mexicanas," featuring depictions of different types of same-sex couples in their domestic spaces.

According to blogger Daniel Hernandez, who documented the show, the photo above features Alfonso and Ruben, who met when they were 11 and 18-years-old, respectively. They became a couple seven years later and they're in an open relationship. The guy in the middle, apparently, is their guest.

Same-sex couples on display in Mexico City metro [intersections]

(via queerty)

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Michael Stipe's Bronze Gods are Technological Objects of Change

Fashion designer Rogan is opening a new boutique in New York, and New York magazine reports that R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe will be having something of an art show there, exhibiting some bronze sculptures he did of cameras and music devices. Said Stipe:

"The radio alarm clock … changed forever the fragile state between sleeping and waking, allowing you to wake to your favorite radio station … The polaroid [one shot and sx70] revolutionized photography by providing instant images available to anyone … Cassettes provided portable, compact music, altering forever the influence of radio as the individual became their own disc jockey."

The objects are not for sale but if you go on the 27th you can pick up a Rogan Stipe T-shirt.

Previously
Michael Stipe Has Had Enough of the Fear and the Arrogance [tr]
Michael Stipe Has an Announcement to Make [tr]

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Human Rights Group Urges Gambian Leader to End Anti-Gay Threats

New York-based Human Rights Watch has sent a letter to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who recently announced plans to rid his country of homosexuals and threatened to behead any gays that were discovered there, to drop those threats and speak out against homophobia:

Wrote Scott Long, director of HRW's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program: "We urge you to publicly disavow threats and vilification directed against gays and lesbian people in Gambia. We ask you to affirm publicly and without equivocation that all people should enjoy their rights regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity."

Good luck with that.

The Gambia recently released two Spanish nationals who were arrested in the country after allegedly making sexual proposals to taxi drivers.

In related news, New York-based Brazilian sculptor Fernando Carpaneda, who last December showed off a doll modeled after Russian artist/photographer Slava Mogutin that he had created as a response to international homophobes, is showing off a new doll based on Gambian President Yahya Jammeh.

Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP (warning NSFW)...

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Berlin's Monument to Gay Holocaust Victims: The Kiss Revealed

Just a bit more on the memorial that was unveiled yesterday in memory of gay victims of the Holocaust in Berlin. One of the clips below is the actual unveiling.In the other clip, the artists who created the monument, Berlin-based Norwegian-Danish artist duo Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen, talk about the idea behind their design, and why featuring an endless loop video of a male couple kissing which is viewed as you peer through the tiny window, was important to them. Makes perfect sense.
(image above via daily dish)

And you're probably curious to see exactly what that clip looks like. You can watch it,
AFTER THE JUMP...

You may have missed...
Major Monument to Gay Holocaust Victims Unveiled Today in Berlin [tr]

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Harvey Milk Bust Has Coming Out Party

As promised, Harvey Milk's bust was unveiled in San Francisco City Hall last night (the only bust of a non-mayor to have a place in the building). On its base is inscribed a quote from Milk recorded shortly before his death: "I ask for the movement to continue because my election gave young people out there hope. You gotta give 'em hope."

Via the SF Chronicle: "Standing 75 inches high and weighing over 200 pounds, the sculpture also has three scenes depicted in relief on the base. One features Milk during his stint in the Navy, another shows him riding in a gay pride parade, and the last depicts the candlelight march held the night of the assassinations...The bust will stand in a ceremonial rotunda outside the Board of Supervisors chambers, a spot where couples frequently choose to get married. Manton said she expects the bust to be popular with City Hall visitors, especially now that California has legalized same-sex marriage."

Harvey Milk sculpture gets unveiled at SF City Hall [sf chronicle]
(image liz hafalia)

AFTER THE JUMP, watch a short videoblog by Luke Klipp which gives a brief tour of City Hall and shows the wrapped bust and its placement on the day before the unveiling...

Previously
Harvey Milk Bust to be Unveiled Tonight at SF City Hall [tr]

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Dutch Dude Takes 'Nesting' To New Levels

Dutch artist Benjamin Verdonck has built a nest in the side of a skyscraper in Rotterdam. According to his website, he's staying there for seven days and built it out of "the crowns of twenty-three silver birches. one birch one willow two straw bales one bucket of spit three bags of sand twelve buckets of glue nineteen cans of polyurethane foam."

Occasionally he stands on top of the nest and throws feathers down. There's also a giant egg sitting on the street. So is he a loon or a cuckoo? I don't know, but if he flies to New York I'll definitely check it out.

Watch two clips of Verdonck, the egg, and some bewildered looking onlookers AFTER THE JUMP...

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News: Georgia, Rauschenberg, Jamaica, John Mayer, Sonoma

First batch of NewNowNext Award winners revealed!

John Mayer gives up on Kristy McNichol haircut, charges fan $10 for photo-op.

Send a personal message of support to Senator Ted Kennedy.

Con man Sonoma County, California attempts to stake claim as same-sex marriage destination.

Who won Dancing with the Stars?

Prayers for Bobby: Sigourney Weaver to play conservative religious mother in Lifetime telepic about gay son's suicide. "In her first telepic role, Weaver will star as Mary Griffith, a devout Christian who winds up becoming an advocate for gay and lesbian youths after her son is driven into a deep depression by his family's disapproval and attempts to 'cure' him of his sexual orientation."

Jamaican prime minister stands behind nation's homophobia: "Jamaica is not going allow values to be imposed on it from outside. We're going to have to determine that ourselves and we're going to have to determine to what extent those values will adapt over time to change, change in perception, change in understanding as to how people live."

Tyler Green on the hetero-normalizing of the late Robert Rauschenberg: "Critics at America's largest publications, including Michael Kimmelman, Alan Artner, Blake Gopnik, Richard Lacayo, and Peter Plagens, mostly avoid the topic. Kimmelman's queasy reference to Jasper Johns, Rauschenberg, and "the intimacy of their relationship" was the closest the Times came to acknowledging that Rauschenberg was gay. The Boston Globe's Mark Feeney, Obit magazine's Phyllis Tuchman and Newsweek's Plagens and others also took the Johns route. The two major papers in Rauschenberg's home state were even more timid."

Court in Malta rules that calling someone "gay" is not defamatory: "Magistrate Michael Mallia ruled that a person’s sexual orientation in the current society was not of social interest bar that of assuring that no discrimination is made. The fact that homosexuality was a criminal offence until 1973, said the magistrate, does not reflect the situation in the 21st century."

Jason Statham has been flogged.

Eric Dane took a few inches off the top.

EU debates sexual preference anti-discrimination guidelines.

Georgia congressman announces plan to introduce federal amendment banning same-sex marriage: "Georgia Congressman Paul Broun announced Tuesday that he will be introducing a constitutional amendment to prevent same-sex marriage in response to a recent decision by the California Supreme Court that recognizes same-sex marriages...'Marriage as an institution exists solely between one man and one woman. Americans have traditionally recognized this definition as being the most beneficial arrangement for the creation of stable family structures and for the upbringing of children. In fact, Americans have repeatedly shown their preference for the traditional definition of one-man, one-woman marriage by passing state and federal laws or by amending state constitutions to preserve the traditional definition,' Broun said."

Hillary Clinton ready for her close-up?

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Blu's Muto a New Movement in Street Art

Living in New York, I've seen plenty of drawings on city walls, but never an animation masterwork quite like this one by the artist BLU.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

(via gawker)

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Gael Garcia Bernal Worshiped in Paris

A new art exhibition called "Saint Gael" by founding ACT UP member and artist Vincent Gagliostro opened in Paris yesterday at the Miss China Beauty Gallery.

Said Gagliostro in a statement: "SAINT GAEL (RE-USED) statement: 1. (with a predatory gleam in his eye): 'heaven’s mouth' - I thought, tearing his image from the magazine. The most beautiful mouth I had ever seen - Gael Garcia Bernal - a new subject. Further retrieving images from numerous official and unofficial websites, it seemed I was moving from my original focus on his beauty to an encounter with my surpressed voyeuristic nature. Predatory nature. Musical nature. Music, because what I seemed to be on to was a kind of 'sampling' much like a DJ/record producer does when creating a work. Studying his (GGB) film 'Y Tu Mama Tambien', I started re-sequencing the images, removing bits here, adding bits there. For example, in one sequence Gael is fucking the girl companion of the roadtrip. By cropping her out of the movement and re-using the images I could bring my subject closer to my world of sex, desire and politics–three ideas inseparable in my fag world. This project has led me to explore my nature and find perhaps a new willingness to turn the cameras on me and my culture, gay men."

More at East Village Boys and on the artist's website.

(Video).

You may have missed...
Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Alfonso Cuaron for Gay Unions [tr]

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News: Dolly Parton, Murakami, Polar Bears, Purse, Phillip Bloch

Recently out Degrassi star Adamo Ruggiero to host Canadian talent show The Next Star.

Takashi Murakami sculpture of anime dude ejaculating goes for $15 million at auction: "The winning bid was submitted to Sotheby's by telephone, probably because no one likes to buy this sort of thing in person, even if it's at a classy art auction."

Don't mess with Dolly! Howard Stern alters Parton's audiobook to make her say some disgusting things.

Bee Gees musical to disco up London's West End: "The Bee Gees are still staying alive and, post-Saturday Night Fever, readying another stage attack with a compilation musical based on their greatest hits. Brother Robin Gibb confirmed the status of the project this weekend while unveiling a green plaque at the former London home of the band’s manager and producer Robert Stigwood, where they wrote songs including 'Chain Reaction' and 'Heartbreaker'."

It's a slow news day at the BBC.

Wonder Twin messes activate!

Polar Bears declared a threatened species: "Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the last three decades and projections of continued losses, meaning, he said, that the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future. But Kempthorne said it would be 'wholly inappropriate' to use the protection of the bear to reduce greenhouse gases, or to broadly address climate change."

Robert Downey Jr. showcases the season's hottest accessory.

Stylist Phillip Bloch forcibly removed from Madison Square Garden over mistaken marijuana incident: "Bloch, who had earlier lit a cigarette but quickly stubbed it out unnoticed, had been talking to a group of pot-smoking teenagers in the row behind him who were passing a pipe among themselves. 'The whole stadium smelled like pot, and the kids behind us were smoking. I'm sitting there having fun, laughing,' said Bloch. 'Then I get an order to go with this man. They say, 'You're leaving, give us your ticket.' I held it up, they took it. At that point they grabbed me by my arms to take me out, so I threw my hands up and said, 'You've got to keep off me. I'm no threat.'' Page Six witnessed three security guards then spin Bloch around and pin him against the corridor wall."

Chris Carmack's new movie should ensure plenty of shots like this.

Gay kiss heats up South African soap opera: "The protagonists were Stone (played by Zenzo Ngqobe) and Thula (Wright Ngubeni). Thula’s unemployed mother is bedridden by HIV/Aids, and to make ends meet he is selling his body to a married man. Not even his best childhood pal, Charlotte (Stone’s girlfriend) played by Nosipho Nkelemba, knows about the big secret. When Stone confronts Thula about the prostitution, there is an exchange of words and Stone suddenly kisses his friend, Thula. Both are left staring at each other in shock. The kiss did not last longer than five seconds, but is as big a talking point as After Nine – a locally produced short film on black gay men, screened on SABC1 last year."

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1,800 Clutch Balls for Spencer Tunick in Vienna

Spencer Tunick, the master of the mass nude photo, hit Vienna, Austria over the weekend, photographing nearly 2,000 people in Happel Stadium. Tunick said he hoped to capture "the spirit of sports, the grand sweeping waves of stadium architecture and the abstract relation of the human form to modern structures."

No word on whether or not Austria's skin-lovin' national rugby team took part in the shot.

Two more shots AFTER THE JUMP (possibly NSFW)...

Previously
< ahref="http://www.towleroad.com/2007/10/behind-the-scen.html">Behind the Scenes of Spencer Tunick's Miami Beach Photo Shoot [tr]
Glacial Bodies: Spencer Tunick's Latest Freeze Frame [tr]

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News: Polaroid, McGreevey Trial, Banksy, Van Hansis

Anti-gay evangelical preacher stabbed to death in Perth, Australia.

Photographers, artists bitter over Polaroid's demise: "'Now what the hell am I supposed to do?' asks John Waters, who’s shot a Polaroid of each person who’s come into his apartment since 1992—friends, interviewers, deliverymen, everyone. 'Digital isn’t instant gratification, and those cameras don’t make that sexy sound.'"

Self-described 'YouTube Superstar' Tricia Walsh-Smith may join The Real Housewives of New York City.

Is Jake Gyllenhaal getting Nailed?

Till death: McGreevey divorce trial begins Tuesday. "Legal analysts expect New Jersey's former first couple will approach new lows, even for divorce court. 'I'm not going to tell you this is going to be the worst case ever in the history of New Jersey divorces,' said Charles Abut, a matrimonial lawyer who operates the New Jersey Family Law blog. 'But I think if you asked longtime matrimonial lawyers, 'Give me the your top 10 worst,' this one is going to appear on everyone's list.' The proceedings, which are expected to last up to six weeks in Elizabeth's Union County Courthouse, have been divided into three sections. Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy has said she will rule separately on each part: Custody of the couple's 6-year-old daughter, Jacqueline; the amount of child support and alimony McGreevey must pay Matos McGreevey; and, finally, Matos McGreevey's claim McGreevey defrauded her, tricking her into a marriage of political convenience even though he knew he was gay."

In March I posted about the appointment of Yale music professor and singer Richard Lalli to Yale residential college master, one of the school's highest recognitions. Now the Hartford Courant has profiled Lalli.

Frank Rich wonders why the media is ignoring John Hagee...

Indiewire talks to gay filmmaker Arthur Dong: "As a gay Asian American filmmaker I'd be naive to think that anti-gay bigotry and racism has not affected the opportunities or lack thereof in terms of my work. But the way I confront it is to first acknowledge whatever factors I think might be there, and then forge ahead anyway with that knowledge. We all have thrust upon us unwanted external forces that we have no control over, whoever we are, and if we allow them to be barriers (excuses?) to our goals, then we may as well give it up because perseverance, passion, and stamina is a must for independent filmmakers."

Inside Banksy's CANS Exhibit.

John Mayer asks for hair Haikus.

T.R. Knight and Mark Cornelsen already planning for children. Knight: “I wouldn’t rule [adoption] out at all. I think it would be adopting versus any other route. But yeah. I mean, there are a lot of kids who need homes.”

FOX News radio host John Gibson mocks MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, lesbians.

As the World Turns' Van Hansis reportedly dating fellow actor Tyler Hanes.

Australian Capitol Territory forced to back down on civil partnerships: "The ACT decision comes as the deeply religious Mr Rudd faces growing attack from Christian groups over his Government's decision to remove discrimination against gays from all other federal laws. Mr Corbell yesterday accused the Rudd Government of breaking a commitment to the states and territories to allow them to legislate as they saw fit. The legislation, which was quashed by the Howard government in 2006, would have allowed gay couples to have their relationships recognised in a legally binding ceremony."

Gay powerlifter Chris Morgan reaches World Championships.

Israeli court denies restraining order against gay man's former partner because nation's family and domestic violence laws do not apply to gay partnerships: "The complainant told the court that the former lover, a younger man who had lived in his Ramat Gan home with him for two years, was abusing him psychologically. He argued that as common-law partner he was entitled to the protection of the family court."

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News: Kevin Rudd, Jesus, Christian Siriano, Patrick McHenry, Mariah

Clinton advisor Mickey Kantor statement on Indianans unearthed: "Look at Indiana...it doesn't matter if we win. Those people are shit. How would you like to be a worthless white ni**er?" Kantor denies... UPDATE: Director Pennebaker says clip doctored...

Barack Obama pledges to stop fighting between Lauren and Heidi on The Hills.

Christian Siriano hosting virtual prom.

Australian PM Kevin Rudd signals that he may block a move by the nation's capital to legalize civil unions: "The Prime Minister warned today that he would never agree to gay marriage, which would require amendments to the Marriage Act. The act expressly states that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. While the ACT government, led by chief minister Jon Stanhope, argues its civil partnerships are different to gay marriage, the Government is concerned it too closely mimics marriage. Mr Rudd now holds the power to disallow any ACT laws that he deems to replicate marriage, just as the Howard Government did during its final term. Despite previously arguing it was a matter for the states, the Prime Minister said today that no other state was proposing laws similar to the ACT."

Mariah Carey marries Nick Cannon in the Bahamas.

Banksy, who has curated an underground graffiti exhibition in London in a tunnel which opens tonight, tells Reuters: Creating graffiti "better than sex, better than drugs."

Tom Ford makes debut as costume designer for Santa Fe opera The Letter.

Massachusetts publishes 120-page anti-bullying guide for schools. Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach: "Our kids deserve to grow up in an environment that is free from harassment and violence. The consequences of bullying can last a lifetime, but all too often it is treated as a rite of passage."

Brazilian gymnast takes his talent to the street.

Never has a shirt on: Lipstick Jungle's Robert Buckley is the new Matthew McConaughey.

Jesus is coming in 2015, look busy.

North Carolina congressman Patrick McHenry behaving conservatively.

Man charged in killing of Florida gay activist Scott Graham: "A man has been charged with murdering West Palm Beach, Fla., gay rights activist Scott Graham, who was found dead in his home on April 16, The Palm Beach Post reported Wednesday. Ricardo David Fuenes-Valle, 20, was arrested on Tuesday near Tampa by Hillsborough County deputies and U.S. marshals. He is being charged with first-degree murder. Investigators found the suspect on Tuesday after they were told that Fuenes-Valle was planning to rob Graham or burglarize his home to steal jewelry and money, West Palm Beach police captain Pat Maney told the Post. Witnesses said Graham was last seen on April 14 with Fuenes-Valle. 'We don't really have a motive at this point,' Maney said in the article. 'We are working under that assumption.'"

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News: Ling Ling, Jake Gyllenhaal, MIT, Reichen, Kathy Griffin

Smith College students protest, defeat Ryan Sorba, author of The Born Gay Hoax.

One of Tokyo's most famous is dead at 22 (that's 70 in human years).

MIT takes no action against student who threatened LGBT group after receiving an email about the group's end-of-semester celebration. Said the student's email: "If you fucking fags send me something like that once again or contact me in any other way, I swear you won’t be able to study at Sloan for some time because you will spend it at resuscitation department. If this is what you want, go ahead." (email and response)

A new Nike ad directed by Guy Ritchie.

Anglican school council in Australia formally endorses ban on bringing same-sex partners to the school formal: "Up to eight students had wanted to take boyfriends and raised the issue with a senior staff member, who passed the request to Churchie headmaster Jonathan Hensman. At the time Mr Hensman said it was not appropriate for students to take a same-sex partner because escorting a young woman to a formal was part of the boys' education. But after reports in The Courier-Mail Mr Hensman referred the matter to the school council. A brief statement posted on the Churchie website yesterday said the council 'strongly supported the headmaster's position on the school's education programs in social settings'."

Reichen Lehmkuhl splits with model boyfriend Ryan Barry, writes up list of Hollywood dating tips.

Viral campaign for The Dark Knight issues 35 mm film trailers to 12 winners of its contest, each one individually defaced by The Joker.

Presbyterian church court issues conflicted ruling in same-sex union case: "A San Rafael minister who presided over several same-sex ceremonies didn't violate Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) rules, because same-sex marriages don't exist in the church, a church court ruled Tuesday. At the same time, the Permanent Judicial Council's ruling affirmed the right of same-sex couples to have unions, a ceremony that would theoretically have a distinct liturgy. The ambivalent ruling - affirming the rights of gays and lesbians to have their relationships sanctioned by the church but not considering them equal to those of heterosexual couples - is likely to disappoint both sides in the debate."

Tenant who lived in Austrian incest house heard knocking from the basement for 12 years but did nothing: "I wish to God that I could turn back the clock. The signs were all there but it was impossible for me to recognise them. Who would ever believe something so terrible was going on right under my feet? It is a regret I will have to live with for the rest of my life."

Street artist targeting NYC subway ads.

Kathy Griffin was fired from Hannah Montana because she told Jesus to suck it.

Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick is somewhere under the rainbow.

Gay books: Publishing Triangle awards