A fine art, film, history and literature site oriented to, but not exclusively for, the gay community. Please be aware that there is mature content on this blog. Information on images and links to sources will be provided if known. Enjoy your visit and please subscribe.
Olly Moss, Art Deco Style Batman Poster: The Dark Knight Rises
Olly Moss is an English artist, graphic designer and illustrator, best known for his reimagining of movie posters. His work is regularly featured in Empire magazine.
Moss was commissioned by Marvel Entertainment executives Craig Kyle and Kevin Feige to create a poster for the cast of Thor. Other notable works include the cover artwork for the Resistance 3 video game, which prompted a trailer to be created in similar style.
The Artwork of Nicholas Blowers
Nicholas Blowers was born in Chelmsford, England in 1972. He studied locally, and then studied Fine Art at Southampton, graduating in 1994. In Europe Blowers remains largely undiscovered, but he has already made an impact both in Sydney and Tasmania, where he relocated in 2007. Blowers works on the depiction and experience of landscape elements, chiefly the detritus of forests.
Most recently, in Tasmania, Blowers’s art has focused upon the serially damaged forests and their landscapes. In fact, as an Englishman in Australia, he could be said to have followed a long tradition, running more recently via the painter John Wolseley (b.1938), who settled in Australia in 1976, and historically, the famous emigrant from London to Hobart, Tasmania, the painter John Glover (1767-1849), in 1831.
“An impenetrable dark wall of trees may offer a glimpse of light some distance inward – often a huge gum has fallen, clearing a pathway. A fallen gum will have left a splintered trunk surrounded by splinters of shattered bark. I was recently standing on the trunk of a huge fallen tree and looking back at the trunk, it appeared a totally implausible form, unique and singular like a castle turret whose walls have splintered and fallen outwards’” – Nicholas Blowers
Thanks to http://darksilenceinsuburbia.tumblr.com
Nothing But Thieves, “Graveyard Whistling”
Nothing But Thieves is an English five-piece alternative rock band from Southend-on-Sea in Essex. Formed in 2012, the band consists of Conor Mason (vocals), Joe Langridge-Brown (guitars), Dominic Craik (guitars, keyboards), James Price (drums), and Philip Blake (bass guitar). In 2014, they were signed to RCA Records. Their style of music has been compared to the likes of Foals, The Neighbourhood, and Civil Twilight.
The song “Graveyard Whistling” is from the “Nothing But Thieves” album released in the US in February 2016.
Paintings by George Underwood
Richard George Underwood is a British artist and musician. He is best known for designing album covers for numerous bands in the 1970s and his collaborations with long-term friend, singer-songwriter David Bowie.
George Underwood attended Bromley Technical School where he developed an interest in music alongside classmates David Bowie and Peter Frampton. Underwood and Bowie’s band, George and the Dragons, was short-lived due to Underwood punching Bowie in the left eye while wearing a ring on his finger, during a fight over a girl, causing paralysis in Bowie’s left pupil and his distinctive mismatched appearance. But the injury did not affect their friendship in the end, and Underwood went on to record one album with Bowie (in their band The King Bees) and also a solo record under the name Calvin James.
After deciding that the music business was not for him, Underwood returned to art studies and worked in design studios as an illustrator. Initially, he specialized in fantasy, horror and science fiction book covers, but as many of his colleagues were in the music business, they began asking him to do various art works for them. This led to him becoming a freelance artist.
Underwood established himself as a leading art illustrator doing album covers for such artists as Tyrannosaurus Rex (Futuristic Dragon), The Fixx (Phantoms, Reach the Beach and Calm Animals), Procol Harum (Shine On Brightly), Mott the Hoople (All the Young Dudes) and David Bowie (Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars). Over this period, he produced hundreds of book covers, LP and CD covers, advertisements, portraits and drawings.
Alfred Palmer: Three Paintings of English Quarrymen
Fascinated by their expertise and strength the quarrymen became the subject of some of Palmer’s finest paintings. The men are shown at their work, with muscles straining under the effort of working the huge blocks of stone. One of the quarrymen, Victor Bower, who came from a long established Dorset family, sometimes helped Palmer with these imposing compositions. Sometimes the figures were set in bright sunlight against a background of brilliant sky or the ever-present sea. As with his painting The Bathers, Palmer’s favoured composition consisted of a trio of men which endorsed the dramatic effect of their activities.
Actor David Tennant: Broadchurch
Broadchurch series one focused on the search for the boy Danny’s murderer by detectives Alec Hardy (played by David Tennant) and Ellie Miller (played by Olivia Colman). Chibnall was inspired by the Jurassic Coast of Britain to set his crime drama in a fictional, close-knit small town in Dorset. Much of the tone of the series was inspired by the music of Ólafur Arnalds, who also composed the soundtrack for the programme.
Writing on spec, Chibnall convinced ITV to green-light the series in the autumn of 2011. Auditions soon followed, although some actors were offered roles directly. Principal photography began in August 2012, with location shooting occurring primarily in the towns and villages in Dorset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, and the city of Bristol. The production went to great lengths to keep the identity of the murderer secret.
Cast and crew was nominated for many awards for series one; they won several British Academy Television (BAFTA) Awards and a BAFTA Craft Award.
Illustrations by Frank Cheyne Pape
Frank Cheyne Papé, was an English artist and book illustrator. He studied at The Slade School of Fine Art, completing his studies circa 1902-04. Papé was married to a fellow Slade student, illustrator Alice Stringer.
Papé’s first known work, for E. Clement’s Naughty Eric, published in 1902, remains extremely rare. One copy is held by The British Library. An original pen and ink illustration from one of the stories, ‘The Magic Stone’, has been found in Sussex, England. Papé’s next earliest illustrations are found in books for children from around 1908, including The Odyssey and The Pilgrim’s Progress.
The Bodley Head, an English publishing company commissioned illustrations by Papé for books of Anatole France, including The Revolt of the Angels (1924) and Penguin Island (1925), in addition to those for the works of Rabelais. He also designed book covers for other authors, including Rafael Sabatini’s “The Life of Cesare Borgia”, published in 1924.
Pape collaborated with Ramon Coffman when Coffman launched Uncle Ray’s Magazine; Papé contributed to this publication until the mid-1950s, first as art director, then as a staff artist. By the end of the 1950s, his eyesight was in serious decline, and his only known work in the 1960s was a series of children’s books for Oxford University Press. His last published work was a 1968 reprint of a 1933 illustrated version of Robinson Crusoe.
Six Landscape Paintings by David Edwards
David Edwards was born in Essex, England in 1944 and immigrated to Canada in 1957. Now residing near Kelowna, British Columbia. Early influences on his style and career included John Constable and J. M. W. Turner. This influence may still be seen in his large landscapes of rounded trees and powerful cloudscapes.
Later, the work of the late French minimalist Nicolas De Stael played the most significant role in Edwards’ development as a painter. He was profoundly moved by the manner in which De Stael was able to use subtle changes in color values and textures to shape his paintings rather than relying on detail. Edwards’ landscape paintings are abstracted to simple forms relying on texture and tonal variations to create drama.
Sam Smith, “Stay With Me”
Samuel Frederick “Sam” Smith is an English singer-songwriter. He rose to fame in October 2012 when he was featured on Disclosure’s breakthrough single “Latch”, which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. His subsequent feature—on Naughty Boy’s “La La La”—earned him his first number one single in May 2013.
In December 2014, Smith was nominated for six Grammy Awards, and at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2015 he won four: Best New Artist, “Stay with Me” for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and In the Lonely Hour for Best Pop Vocal Album. At the 2015 Brit Awards, he won the awards for British Breakthrough Act and Global Success. In October 2015, Smith’s composition “Writing’s on the Wall” for the James Bond film Spectre was released, for which he received a Guinness World Record when it became the first Bond theme song to reach number one in the UK.
In May 2014, Smith revealed to the public that he is gay. He acknowledged a relationship—since ended—with actor and model Jonathan Zeizel. At the 2015 Grammy Awards, where he won four categories, he said, “I would like to thank the man that I fell in love with last year – the man who this album is about. Thank you so much for breaking my heart, because you got me four Grammys!”.
Mr Finch, Textile Sculptures, Vintage Fabric Flora and Fauna
A wonderful textile artist, who only introduces himself as Mister Finch, has been creating beautiful replicas of British flora and fauna using only vintage and recycled textiles and thread.
His pieces have a faded yet timeless feel to them, which comes from both the old materials he (re)uses and the subject matter he draws upon. As he explains on his blog, “Flowers, insects and birds really fascinate me with their amazing life cycles and extraordinary nests and behaviour. British folklore is also so beautifully rich in fabulous stories and warnings and never ceases to be at the heart of what I make.”
He makes a point of recycling old or vintage materials; “It’s a joy to hunt for things for my work…the lost, found and forgotten all have places in what I make. Most of my pieces use recycled materials, not only as an ethical statement, but I believe they add more authenticity and charm.”
Graham Sutherland, “Estuary”, 1946, Oil on Canvas
A neo-Romantic inspired by the pastoral subjects of Samuel Palmer, Graham Sutherland’s haunting paintings captured the rugged beauty of the countryside and the oppressive forces of creeping industrialisation upon it.
For much of the 1930s he chose to paint the Pembrokeshire landscape, attempting to express ‘the intellectual and emotional’ essence of the place. By using dramatic shifts in light, unnaturalistic colouring and animal skulls, he would transform the countryside into a bleak, primordial world in which man and nature were at odds with one another.
Estuary (1946) was one of the last paintings the artist made before fleeing the sulphurous realities of post-war Britain for the sunny environs of South of France. His palette was already changing from the tempestuous greys and ochres of the Welsh countryside for the scorching yellows of the Riviera.
Sculptures by Fabrice Le Nezet
Fabrice Le Nezet is a director, designer and visual artist obsessed by urban culture. Based in London, in the past few years he’s been exploring the intersection of fashion, architecture and toy design through the use of raw materials like cement and metal. His work is immediately recognizable for its pure, graphical aesthetic combined with a playful quality and trompe-l’œil effects.
In the past Fabrice has directed various TV ads for important brands. His background includes studying science and maths, followed by digital art and today he pursues his interest towards crafts and artisanal techniques of working materials at 360°.
The five stones suspended by metal images are from his “Measurement and Elasticity” series of work in concrete and metal bracing. The four images with the colored backgrounds are from the “Fashion for Concrete” surreal runway show, modeled by fashionable totems, each with its unique personality, with a clean silhouettes and great attention to detail.
Artists Unknown, “Ben Winshaw”, Computer Graphics, Film Gifs
Proclaimed by many critics as one of the best young actors of his generation, Benjamin John Whishaw was born in Clifton, Bedfordshire. Ben attended Samuel Whitbread Community College where his interest in theatre grew and he became a member of the Bancroft Players Youth Theatre at Hitchin’s Queen Mother Theatre. During his time there he rose to prominence in many productions, most notabl “If This Is a Man”, based on the book of the same name by Primo Levi, a survivor of Nazi World War II prisoner of war camp. The play was taken to the Edinburgh Festival in 1995 where it garnered five-star reviews and great critical acclaim with Ben Whishaw getting rave reviews for his portrayal of Levi.
Whishaw played in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a perfume maker whose craft turns deadly getting raves once again for his stunning portrayal. Whishaw appeared in 2007’s I’m Not There. (2007) as one of the Bob Dylan reincarnations and in 2008 in Criminal Justice (2008) a TV series. He also appeared in the films The Tempest (2010) and Bright Star (2009).
Ben Winshaw entered into a civil partnership with his partner Mark Bradshaw in August 2012. They met on the set of Bright Star (2009).
Patrick Wolf, “Penzance”
Patrick Wolf is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Patrick utilises a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano and viola. He is known for combining electronic sampling with classical instruments. Wolf’s styles range from electronic pop to Baroque chamber music.
On 27 February 2007, in an interview with thelondonpaper, Wolf raised questions about his sexuality: “In the same way I don’t know if my sixth album is going to be a death-metal record or children’s pop, I don’t know whether I’m destined to live my life with a horse, a woman or a man. It makes life easier.” In a 5 July 2007 interview with the Sydney Star Observer, he confirmed his sexuality: “My sexuality is kind of liberal. I fall in love with men and women. I guess you would call me bisexual. I like to have sex and fall in love—I don’t like giving terminology for my sexuality.” Later, in 2009, Wolf told The Guardian that though in the past he has had relationships with women, he currently identifies himself as gay. As an artist, Wolf reflects that he doesn’t like to worry about whether he makes a record “too gay or too straight or too this or too that.”
In September 2008, Wolf claimed that he was beaten up by security guards for kissing his boyfriend at a Madonna concert in London. Wolf told Electroqueer: “We were beaten up outside Wembley [Stadium], handcuffed. […] The police came and it just went on and on and on. My man’s face covered in blood. […] They totally twisted my arm and my legs – it was just mad. They are currently researching the CCTV – it just really nuts. [— sic] We basically got beaten up by the police.”
On 31 December 2010, Patrick Wolf announced via Twitter that he was set to enter a civil partnership with his boyfriend William Pollock.
This is one of my favorite songs by Patrick Wolf. Enjoy.
Sculptures by Kate MccGwire
Kate MccGwire is an internationally renowned British sculptor whose practice probes the beauty inherent in duality, employing natural materials to explore the play of opposites at an aesthetic, intellectual and visceral level. Growing up on the Norfolk Broads her connection with nature and fascination with birds was nurtured from an early age, with avian subjects and materials a recurring theme in her artwork.
Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2004, MccGwire’s uncanny sculptures have been exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery (London), the Museum of Art and Design (New York), Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Paris) and most recently at the Venice Biennale, 2015 .