Aussielicious

As much as I’m enjoying my own photography there are others out there so much more daring than I’m willing to be. Some artists put so much of themselves out on display for criticism or praise, both emotionally and physically, and Peter Breen is one of them.

Peter is an artist and photographer based in London and his work could be seen by some as self indulgent but I disagree. For me it’s an artist using himself as his muse and canvas and exploring all sorts of ideas in various forms of photography. Peter manipulates gender and masculinity, experimenting with makeup, costume, indoor and outdoor photos of himself and his surrounds. His blog, appropriately titled Narcissus Gazed, is a treasure trove of imagery. Stay tuned, Peter has quite an interesting story and I’m hoping to do an interview.

The Classic De Novo exhibition is about to take Berlin by storm with Ross Watson unveiling the new piece (above left) at the exhibition which is to be opened with a special appearance of one of Ross’ models, porn start Alex Baressi. Those of you in or near Berlin should go and see his work. I know one of my readers doesn’t seem to like Ross’ work, but I know I do.

Londoners wandering their beautiful city yesterday were treated to over 2,000 happy faces floating through the city. They were the work of artist Stuart Semple who decided that the “installation” piece was what was needed in these times of doom and gloom. The happy clouds were biodegradable and environmentally safe and they sure as hell would have brought a smile to my face.

Tonight I was lucky enough to go along to the opening drinks for Ross Watson‘s Classic De Novo exhibition, open from today til March 7. Being the chronically on-time person that I am, I was one of the first to arrive. It was a very laid back affair and I was lucky enough to once again chat to Ross and his partner Stephen.

They welcomed me as if I was an old friend which was very sweet, especially considering some of the A-List company they keep from time to time. I very much enjoyed the new works as much as I’ve enjoyed past work and hearing where the themes came from and how they’ve been woven together directly from the artist was nice. It was also fun being able to ask Stephen if he was allowed to have any favourites and which pieces they were. I commented that I only realised a couple of years ago that two of my favourite artists are both living, Australian and gay.

Head along to Depot II in Danks St, Waterloo to have a look at the exhibition. One day I plan on having the earning capacity to buy an original of Ross’, and maybe from my other favourite artist, Aussie Jeffrey Smart.

I’ve been lucky enough to score an invitation on Tuesday night to the opening of Ross Watson’s Classic De Novo exhibition in Dank St Sydney. The last two years, when Ross has exhibited in Sydney for Mardi Gras I wasn’t working full time so got to go at my own leisurely time and wander through a very quiet gallery while everyone else was at work. So it’s a nice surprise to be invited along to the opening night.

Ross and his partner are lovely to chat to and I’m hoping I get a chance to say hi to them on the night. Fingers crossed there will alsoo be a couple of Ross’ hot models there as well.

Lichtfaktor is a German art collective using light to create art. Using light in art is nothing new, it’s the basis of photography but these artists take it to the next level painting with light in ways that utilise the natural landscapes or their immediate environment to create a story. In this case they’ve created thousands of individual images to put together a video of a forest overrun with creatures created by light. It’s quite an astonishing and beautiful video!

Forest from LICHTFAKTOR on Vimeo.

From everything I’ve read, seen and heard, Confest is about as close to a Burning Man vibe as Australia gets. It’s got the usual suspects of fire twirlers, hippies, musicians, dreadlocks, artists and as you can see, naked people. I’m not quite sure when or where it is or what the story is at all, but I know these people look like they are having a great time.

If there are any readers out there who have been to confest and have a story to tell, I’d love to hear it.

From the time of Da Vinci and Michaelangelo, the nude figure study has been a staple of art and with those two and many other leading art figures being gay, art history is filled with sketches, paintings and sculptures of beautiful nude men.

The “ideals” of the perfect man have changed over the years and provide an interesting history of the changing tastes in figures and grooming habits. These are all very modern examples of the male nude study obviously looking at the styles and the muscled gym bodies of the subjects.

I posed for a painter last year who works from photographs and it’s definitely something I enjoyed doing. I’d love to do it again and if there are any artists out there looking for a subject, let me know!

Late in November, Angelo is bringing another exhibition of his beautiful manscapes to Sydney. Come along to the Blank Space Gallery in Surry Hills to check them out!

As one of my top two living painters, both happen to be gay and Australian, I love seeing new works by Ross Watson. I don’t know if it’s because I discovered his work about the same time as I discovered my sexuality and more fully realised who I was or if it’s just because his work is beautiful. Either way I was excited to see these new works from Ross.

This Introspection series is part of Ross 10th Anniversary Exhibition at the Ross Watson Gallery. Does Ross have a thing for guys in hoodies or is there something more to this? The exhibition runs from the 9th to the 24th of this month. One day I’ll be able to own one of his works.

A while back I posted the video of the NYC Grand Central Station freeze where hundreds of improvisation volunteers stood still for a few minutes baffling those around them. Well Improv Everywhere has done it again with this stunt on the subway. I love that they can make the famously jaded New York public laugh and take notice!

Anthony Larrisey sent me through these images yesterday of this series he’s been working on for a while. Anthony is a brilliant bodypaint artist that has been seen on the pages of Aussielicious a few times before. I can’t imagine how time consuming it must be to paint fishnets on a guy.

This has reminded me of something I saw on a profile on manhunt. Some guy had written “If you wear low v-neck t-shirts and have a drag queen for a friend then we won’t get on and I’m not interested.” Are some guys still so threatened by their own sexuality and full of self-hatred that they can’t chill out and have a bit of fun. I thought as gay men, we’d earned the right to express the feminine side we are supposed to be in touch with, even if it is for a laugh. Personally, I’m fine with the fact that I’m not the most butch thing in the world, nor the most camp and I love a bit of genderfuck theatrics if they are done well.

You have a few days left to catch Ross Watson’s exhibition in Sydney for Mardi Gras. This exhibition showcases his “Silence” paintings and his “Catalogue XXVIII” photography. It’s at Danks St Depot Gallery in Waterloo, Sydney from 11 am and finishes this Saturday 8th. I’m actually heading down this morning.

The beautiful image I posted earlier was a collaborative effort between the digital artist and BeautifulMag. You can download the high resolution artwork in three pieces from there directly, which I’m doing.

They’ve also been kind enough to create this video piece, using the artwork and a track by Madonna also called “The Prophecy” which I’ve always really liked since hearing it on the Justify My Love single.

I love it when an image stops me in my tracks. I haven’t had a lot of time to go through a lot of the blogs on my blogroll lately but thought I’d stop by Gayya Kuyusu today and was really struck by this image. It’s by a photographer called Aymeric Giraudel. I went to his site and there are some beautiful images there, but this one just blew me away. The hours he’s spent putting it together in photoshop are very well spent and of course the guys are HOT. It’s definitely worth clicking on the image to see it full size!