Gauguin Attacker: Painting Is 'Very Homosexual'!

The woman who attacked a Paul Gauguin painting in Washington's National Gallery believed the painting of two topless Tahitian women was both "evil" and "homosexual," according to a criminal complaint obtained by The Smoking Gun. "I feel that Gauguin is evil. He has nudity and is bad for the children. He has two women in the painting and it’s very homosexual," Susan Burns, 53, told police.

"I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned," Burns said, according to the criminal complaint. "I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you." Burns, who has convictions for carjacking, disorderly conduct, trespassing, and assault on a law enforcement officer, was tackled by another gallery visitor after she began pounding the $80 million painting with her fists. The museum says the painting, which was protected by a plexiglass shield, is unharmed and will go back on display today, reports the Washington Post.

OUTscene America: (PRE-view) Sons of God Photography Show at SF LGBT Community Center!

The San Francisco LGBT Community Center and Queer Cultural Center presents "Sons of God", photography of the male nude by local photographer Tom Schmidt. With this work the photographer reclaims visual images from his strict Catholic upbringing (as the 11th of 12 children) and highlights the beauty and innocence of the nude male form!

Sons of God runs at the Center from April 12 through May 13.

Opening reception Thursday April 14 7-9 pm. All are welcome.

Gay Arts Dealer Hopes to Bring Art, LGBT Community to Downtown SD!

Amazingly enough, San Diego arts dealer Alexander Salazar has managed to thrive in spite of the recession, the high cost of his carefully selected collections and the economic depression surrounding his downtown gallery space.


The openly gay art dealer and owner of Alexander Salazar Fine Art, a gallery space on 7th and Broadway that will celebrate its one-year anniversary this Saturday, wants to create an LGBT-friendly arts community in the neighborhood that he admits is “still sort of sketchy.”

There are “a lot of artists in San Diego, and a lot of galleries aren’t tapping into that market,” explained Salazar in an interview with San Diego Gay & Lesbian News. He intends to change that – first with the artist-in-residence space where he sponsors up and coming young artists, next with a campaign to bring other galleries to the neighborhood…and finally, with an increased presence in the San Diego LGBT community.

Andy Warhol Monument to be Unveiled in NYC's Union Square Today!

Visual artist Rob Pruitt will be unveiling "The Andy Monument", a statue commemorating pop artist and icon Andy Warhol, today in NYC's Union Square.

The NY Post: The statue’s surface is finished in chrome, and at a Connecticut factory yesterday, it was mounted atop a concrete pedestal before being transported by train to New York in time for today’s unveiling. The statue will be displayed at a street corner where Warhol, who died in 1987 at age 58, regularly stood and handed out copies of his brainchild, Interview magazine. The monument features the icon with a Polaroid camera around his neck and holding a Bloomingdale's bag in his right hand because Warhol, said Pruitt, regularly carried a shopping bag filled with copies of the magazine and candy.

Franco Tweets His Painting, Will Teach Graduate Class at NYU!

FRANCO will be teaching a third-year course on directing at the Tisch School of the Arts, the NY Post reports:

"A maximum of 12 students in the intimate three-year program — with an annual tuition of $46,000 — will be able to register for the course on adapting poetry into short films.

“He’s here to teach because he really knows something about directing that he can share with our students,” said John Tintori, chair of the graduate film program. “He’s incredibly prolific, and that comes from a real work ethic — and that’s another thing to impart to our students.”

Franco recently tweeted a video of himself painting a self-portrait of himself as Rodin's "The Thinker".

BEEFCAKE: James Franco’s Vogue cover!

BEEFCAKE: Alexander Skarsgard: Shirtless and Confused!

BEEFCAKE: the POWER of Sam Webb!

Model: Sam Webb by Brian Jankic
Via VGL

BEEFCAKE: Tennis star, Novak Djokovic heads to the Beach!

BEEFCAKE: Kamil Nicalek Goes Retro!

Model: Kamil Nicalek by Mike Ruiz
Via VGL

New Train Line Could Collapse David!

Progress could spell major trouble for Michelangelo's David: The construction of a high-speed train line beneath Florence could cause the statue to collapse, reports the Telegraph. The statue is criss-crossed with micro-fissures, especially in the left ankle area and carved tree stump he stands upon. Construction on the tunnel, due to be built about 2,000 feet from the statue, could cause damaging vibrations, prompting calls that it be moved.

"If it’s not moved before digging begins, there is a serious risk that it will collapse,” said an expert in underground engineering, who adds that the vibrations caused by tourists and street traffic are already harming the statue. One well-regarded art critic called for the project, which will bolster the city's rail links with Rome and Milan, to be canceled. "Our heritage should come before everything else. The excavation work should not go ahead." An official says the Accademia Gallery's ability to withstand earthquakes is currently being assessed, and that engineers will review the tunnel’s potential effect at the same time.

BEEFCAKE: End your Day with Rick Day!

Rick Day is casting six-pack abs in Rio. The resulting test shots pass with flying colors.

Via Boy Culture

BEEFCAKE: Miro Moreira LOVES his Roberto Cavalli Underwear!

Model: Miro Moreira by Giampaolo Sgura for Roberto Cavalli Underwear
Via VGL

BEEFCAKE: What is Sashsa Knezevic hiding?

More @ Monologue magazine
Model: Sashsa Knezevic by Brian Jankic
Via VGL

BEEFCAKE: Too Early for Swimwear?

Fernanda Calfat shoots Thiago Tricarico, Ricardo Magrino and Anderson Ferminio for RadarX in limited-edition (and limited-material!) swimwear from Marcelu Ferraz's Beachwear Collection:

BEEFCAKE: A*Men for Oscar Pistorius!

Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius is the new face (and body) of A*Men fragrance by Thierry Mugler.

Writes the label: "Born in Johannesburg in 1986, the new face of A*Men became a world class sprinter with carbon fiber artificial limbs. After losing his legs at eleven months old, he learned a different way of mastering balance and sublimated his disability through competition. After winning several medals at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, he became triple world record holder and triple Paralympic Champion in the 100, 200 and 400 meter races."

James Franco to Present 12-Hour Re-Cut of 'My Own Private Idaho' Featuring Hustler Interviews, Dreamy River Phoenix Montages

James Franco tweeted the above photo yesterday advertising a new art project he's involved in with Gus van Sant!

Movieline has the details: A release from the esteemed Gagosian Gallery states the exhibit, “Unfinished,” will open Feb. 26 in Beverly Hills and run through April 9. The exhibit is basically a reworking of Van Sant’s 1991 flick My Own Private Idaho, renamed Endless Idaho, done by Franco using behind the scenes and deleted footage. It is 12 hours long. 12.

What does this 12 hours include? Location scouting! Interviews with actual street hustlers! Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix improvising!

Exhausted yet? Well, wake up, because there is a second movie, My Own Private River! This is just shots of Phoenix (Sorry Keanu!), set to an original score by Michael Stipe.

The films are accompanied by eight works on paper done by Van Sant. While this is of course remarkable, and obviously time consuming, it seems like phoning it in next to Franco.

Painting of Picasso's Mistress Fetches $40M!

A painting of the teenage mistress Pablo Picasso picked up outside a Paris Metro station in 1927 has sold for $40 million at auction. La Lecture, which shows Marie-Therese Walter asleep in a chair, was sold to an anonymous buyer for double the expected price, the Telegraph reports. The painter charmed the 17-year-old Walter—28 years his junior—with the line: "I am Picasso. You and I are going to do great things together.'' The affair was long kept secret because Walter was underage, and because the painter was married.