An abstract expressionist of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, Paul Wonner (1920-2008) maybe wasn't Diebenkorn but his early and middle works endure. Above are his
Sarah Vaughn Singing (1963) and
Woman with Flowers (1961). For more than fifty years he was partners with Theophilus Brown who, at 91, is said still to paint every day in San Francisco. In the 1960s they lived in Santa Monica and were friends with the locals, William Inge, Andre Previn, Isherwood and Bachardy, Eva Marie Saint and her husband. The Guggenheim, SFMoMA, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum are among the many institutions that collect Wonner's work.
The way things are going, Jean-Paul Gaultier
is going to be remembered for creating Madonna’s cone bra corset. But
he’s been a force in fashion since the mid-1970s and,
who knew, he created the best-selling men’s fragrance in the EU. Never
formally trained as a designer, he has long had a visionary sense of
style,
especially in the theatricality of his fashion shows and the boldness
of his advertising. Yet his couture collections are as praised as his
ready-to-wear. His boyfriend, Francis Menuge, convinced Gaultier to
quit his job at Pierre Cardin and open his own studio in 1976. They
lived and worked together, with Menuge as business manager until his
death from aids in 1990. Gaultier was single for fifteen years
following Menuge’s death then began a new relationship with a man
who does not live in France.
Also, John Epperson. And Shakespeare. And Alex Sanchez, whose Bait omission from this year's Lambda's YA finalists still rankles. A great and moving story for young readers.
Born in Des Moines, graduated from a high school in Evansville,
Indiana, Roy Halston Frowick had shed the Midwest along with his first
and last names by the time he designed Jackie Kennedy’s iconic
inauguration pillbox hat when he was twenty-nine. Soon after, he began
designing clothes, which were standouts for their elegance and
simplicity. As famous for his perpetual partying at Studio 54 as he was
for his fashions, Halston
was the first designer to understand the power of licensing his brand.
His name appeared on everything from scarves to eyeglasses to perfume
to the uniforms for airlines and rental car companies, yet because he
was a perfectionist unable to delegate any designing to his staff, he
cracked under enormous pressure. The firm that bought his company asked
him to design a clothing line for J.C. Penney, and when he did so,
Bergdorf’s stopped carrying his clothes and many longstanding clients
decamped to other designers. Ultimately he was fired from his own
company and legally barred from designing under his name. He left New
York for San Francisco and died of aids in 1990.
Who’s that star playing his guitar with a bow like a cello? And who sings the end credits song "Sticks and Stones" in How To Train Your Dragon? Why, it’s
Jónsi, of course, the lead singer of the other Icelandic musical
sensation, Sigur Rós. They followed the worldwide success of their 1999 post-rock album Ágætis byrjun, with 2002’s album called ( ),
which was sung entirely in Vonlenska, or Hopelandic, a made-up language
of nonsense syllables. Because it sounds similar to Icelandic, it’s an
open question whether people in other parts of the world could tell any
difference, but those fans would at least have noticed that the
accompanying lyrics booklet was left blank for listeners to write their
own meaning of the words. Sigur Rós’s songs have been used in movies by
Greg Araki, Cameron Crowe, and Wes Anderson, as well as on numerous tv
shows, and they’ve sold more than two million albums. Jónsi is 100%
supergay and last year released an album called Riceboy Sleeps with his boyfriend under the moniker Jónsi and Alex. This month he releases his first solo album Go.