Who doesn't need more art in their lives? I can see some white on my walls that would definitely look much better with a lesbian painting on it. It doesn't even have to have naked women — it can just be painted by a lesbian and the wall would still be better off.

While Nan Goldin and Catherine Opie prints may be a little too pricey, GLAAD's OUTAuction might have some other choice pieces that support new artists as well as the organization itself. So buying a ticket to the event, and buying a piece by a budding queer artist is really benefiting yourself and the community. Sounds like a win-win, if you're on the right side of the economy these days.

Photo by Jazzmine Beaulieu

Past artists who have participated in the auction include Annie Leibovitz and Rosie O’Donnell, among others. Leibovitz is not an emerging artist by any means, but she lent her work and her name to the cause. I'm not too familiar with Rosie's art, but I can imagine a superfan was glad to have whatever kind of work it was in her home. … continue reading

Surviving 20 years as an artist is a feat in and of itself, but having a career retrospective at the Guggenheim in New York City after only two decades is definite validation. Lesbian artist Catherine Opie is famous for her self-portraits and formalist photographs, and as her exhibit at the museum suggests, she's created her own world of normal that includes small-town football players, Hollywood mansions, drag kings and pregnant gay women (including Ilene Chaiken and her ex in a swimming pool — hmm, I wonder where she got that Tina-Helena pool-sex idea?).

Opie is also a mother and a professor at UCLA, and the winner of several awards for her photographs. Her 200-photograph exhibit at the Guggenheim (called "American Photographer") is surely the biggest she's had to date, and with the widest range of representation of her work.

One of the pieces on display is one of her most famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask): her 1994 S&M-themed self-portrait with the word "Pervert" cut into her chest and dozens of needles in her arms. Opie recently told the New York Times:

I made the piece out of a reaction to all of the sudden gays and lesbians bringing on the “normal” dialogue to us. Let’s push the boundaries a little bit here about what you guys think normal is.

The "Pervert" chest also makes an appearance in a 2004 portrait of Opie breastfeeding her son, Oliver. Although it's a photograph of a natural act between a mother and a child, because it's Opie, it's automatically controversial, which at the same times makes it great art. Says Opie of her overtly lesbian subtext: … continue reading

Another reason that I think it’s really important to be out and do the work that I make is to create examples for younger people ... The discourse with family is usually heterosexual, and I wanted to create another context to begin to think about family, both on a personal and political level.

Every sexy young starlet who comes along has a bit of a Marilyn Monroe complex. Such is the unattainable legacy of leaving this mortal coil before one’s time. But besides the flat-put imitators and (rest her troubled soul) Anna Nicole Smith, few have stepped so audaciously into the iconic sex symbol’s footsteps as Lindsay Lohan did recently. You see, Lindsay, the promising redhead turned paparazzi princess turned rehab veteran, has re-created Marilyn’s famed last photo shoot with its original photographer Bert Stern for New York magazine.

A troubled starlet imitating a doomed starlet? Oh, dear. While it’s admirable to want to emulate Marilyn’s legend, something seems untoward about a young woman with admitted substance abuse issues so happily reprising the icon’s final days. Marilyn’s 1962 photo shoot, simply called “The Last Sitting,” was completed just six weeks before her death from an apparent barbiturate overdose.

No nudity was spared for Lindsay’s shoot, though thankfully the booze that flowed freely during the original sessions was acutely absent at the re-creations. (See the full set here, but I’m not kidding about the nudity — it’s NSFW. And P.S., we’ve also edited out the naughtiest bits in this post for your safe-for-all-ages AfterEllen.com viewing pleasure.) … continue reading

Annie Leibovitz could photograph a rock or, more challenging still, The Rock and make it look fascinating. So watching her turn famous faces into iconic Disney characters for the theme park’s Year of a Million Dreams campaign has been a real treat. Now that I’ve seen the third round of images, I’ve upgraded the experience from treat to gourmet meal. On the menu are Tina Fey, Gisele Bundchen, Jessica Biel, Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Lopez. Seriously, who has a fork?

The Peter Pan scene features Gisele as Wendy Darling with dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan and Tina flitting about as Tinker Bell. Tina as Tink? I’ve just died and gone to Neverland.

Jessica Biel gets in touch with nature in her shot as Pocahontas. Hmm, while Jessica looks great in her buckskin togs, I’m not really feeling her as the Native American princess. Somehow, when I look at her, I just don’t think about the rich culture of the Powhatan Indians. … continue reading

When you wish upon a star, if you ask nicely, they’ll dress up like Disney characters and pose for you. The second round of images from famed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz’s Disney ad campaign came out this week. While they're not nearly as trippy as the Beyoncé, Lyle Lovett and Oliver Platt teacup of insanity from last time, they’re even more dreamy. Like Rachel Weisz as Snow White dreamy.

I’ve got to give it to Annie: Rachel was an inspired bit of casting. In fact, seeing her commune with nature with her raven hair and milky skin, I can’t think of a single other actress that would be better for the part. Look, even Bambi agrees. … continue reading

What is up with all these stars choosing truly tragic looks for their big comebacks? First Lauryn Hill, now Gwyneth Paltrow. Her cover photo for the new issue of W made me truly thankful for headline writers. Seriously, if it hadn't said “Gwyneth,” I would have had no idea. None.

Do the editors of W have some sort of secret (well, now, not-so-secret) grudge against Gwynnie? Perhaps the publisher had money on Saving Private Ryan to win best picture in 1998 and lost a bundle when Shakespeare in Love snuck in to steal the Oscar. Really, it’s the only explanation I can think of for making Blythe Danner’s daughter look like an unholy mash-up of bushy-eyebrowed Sienna Miller, passed-out Lindsay Lohan and a Communist-era East German transsexual.

And if you thought that was weird, wait until you see the inside photos (after the jump). … continue reading

Annie Leibovitz is possibly the best, and certainly the most famous, celebrity photographer around. And whether she is shooting for editorial or commercial use, I always pay attention to her gorgeous images. So when the Gap rolled out its new fall “Classics Redefined” campaign, I took a peek. And, once again, wow.

The array of famous (and somewhat less famous) faces posing in sweater vests, wide-leg trousers, French-cuff shirts and the like are actors Selma Blair, Lucy Liu, Regina King, Liev Schreiber, Forest Whitaker and Ken Watanabe; musicians John Mayer and Puffy AmiYumi; comedian Sarah Silverman; director Davis Guggenheim; designer Marcel Wanders and dancer-choreographer Twyla Tharp. (See them all here.) … continue reading

Queen Elizabeth II is unhappy. No, Helen Mirren hasn't snubbed her again: Annie Leibovitz and the BBC have. Rather, they've revealed her real-ness, and that just won't do.

Yesterday, the BBC released a promotional trailer for the upcoming documentary A Year With the Queen. In it, the queen is seen disagreeing with Annie Leibovitz at a photo shoot (the preceding photo is one of the results of the shoot, but it isn't the offending bit of media). Specifically, the queen took issue with Leibovitz's suggestion that she remove her crown:

Leibovitz told the queen, "I think it will look better without the crown because the garter robe is so ... " but the monarch cut her off with an icy stare.

"Less dressy! What do you think this is?" the monarch said, gesturing to her attire.

The BBC today issued an apology, admitting that what looked like a stomping-off-the-set afterward was actually out of sequence; it was footage of the queen arriving at the shoot.

I don't know where to begin, really. Well, yes, I do; I'm going to ignore all the out-of-sequence nonsense and focus on the queen's discomfort with Leibovitz's request. On the one hand, it's a photo shoot: No matter who you are, you can expect to be poked, prodded and posed. And if you have even a passing familiarity with Leibovitz's work, you know that you can expect her to get very close to you in some way. So, on that score, I'm tempted to say "duh" to Her Unsuspecting Majesty. … continue reading