Consider the context before coming for Michelle Obama’s portrait

On Monday, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery added two new, history making pieces. Against the backdrop of Black History Month, the Gallery unveiled the official portraits of the forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama, and his wife, Michelle Obama. Commissioned by the Portrait Gallery, New York-based artist Kehinde Wiley and Baltimore-based portrait artist Amy Sherald were chosen by the former POTUS and FLOTUS to portray them.  Wiley , well known for his large-scale portraits of African-Americans, was selected by President Obama, while Sherald, an artist who takes a conceptual approach to her work (rather than a photorealistic one), was selected by Michelle Obama.

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Consider the context before coming for Michelle Obama’s portrait
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The Fabulous Art Of: Butcher Billy

On a regular basis, I like to peruse sites like BehanceMy Modern Metropolis, This Is Colossal, Artstation, or Contemporist, where I can gaze in slack-jawed admiration at the skills of so many amazing artists. From woodworkers, sculptors, and metalworkers to graphic designers, traditional pen and paper artists, and photographers, I have come across some amazingly talented individuals. One such individual takes pop culture icons and smashes them together to create interesting (and occasionally thought-provoking) works of art. Today’s fabulous artist is Brazilian-born Butcher Billy:

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The Fabulous Art Of: Butcher Billy

Some music to relax to

Natacha Atlas is a Belgian singer whose work is infused with Arabic and Western electronic music (particularly hip-hop). I may not understand what she’s saying, but there is no question that she has an amazing voice!

Some music to relax to

LGBT Link Round Up 2.25.15

Australian-based street artist Astrotwitch uses art to remind people that LGBT people exist in all manner of shapes and sizes.

The LGBT community rarely sees its experiences depicted authentically in mainstream media. A 2014 GLAAD study found that a mere 3.9% of scripted broadcast TV series regulars are LGBT individuals. Even when they’re shown onscreen, they’re often reduced to insulting archetypes like the “sassy gay best friend” or “angry lesbian.”

One Australia-based street artist is attacking this problem by promoting authentic representations of LGBT individuals in public spaces. Astrotwitch launched “Queer the Streets” last year based on the idea that, as theywrote in a Tumblr post, all the “queer community needs is simply for more people to know that they exist.” For the past year, Astrotwitch has exclusively painted queer people of all “body shapes and looks” throughout the streets of Melbourne.

[…]

The artist told Mic that one of the biggest barriers for queer advocates doing political work is that people often “forget that queers exist.” Depicting them so vividly in public, they wrote, allows “people who identify as queer to see themselves represented in society” and helps people feel like part of a community. It also educates others about issues like marriage equality and violence against transgender people.

Here’s a sample of his art, which you can find at the above link, or at the Queer the Streets Tumblr

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 Christian publisher drops young Evangelical after he comes out as gay

Brandan Robertson, 22, was told his contract was canceled out of concern that Christian retailers would not buy his book because of his LGBTI advocacy.

The Evangelicals for Marriage Equality spokesperson signed a deal with Destiny Images before he publicly came out in January.

Within hours of submitting his manuscript later that month, he received an email from a communications specialist at Destiny, Mykela Krieg.

‘Since you’ve been receiving more media attention over the past few months, we’ve had some questions/concerns arise from our buyers,’ she said.

Robertson said as soon as read those words, a knot formed in his stomach.

‘I immediately knew that the problem was going to be with my very vocal support of LGBTQ equality and inclusion in the church. Unfortunately, I was right,’ he told Time magazine.

‘I am at a frustrated point, not for my book, but this is so symptomatic of what happens in the broader evangelical community — every day, LGBTQ individuals are told that they are no longer welcome in churches, are kicked out of homes, are fired from jobs, and forced in to reparative therapy by those who claim to represent Jesus.’

Yet another example of so-called “christian love”.

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In the latest example of Republican politicians seeking to trample on the rights of USAmerican citizens, a committee in West Virginia has advanced a bill that would prevent towns and cities from enforcing non-discrimination ordinances.

Targeted at the LGBT community, the bill, if it becomes law, would nullify the non-discrimination laws in six West Virginia cities, and would ban other jurisdictions from enacting non-discrimination laws that protect LGBT people, the elderly, and veterans.

The legislation is being pushed through as a commerce bill, under the claim that it will attract businesses from out of state who would prefer to not have to deal with varying laws in different cities. In truth, most businesses have far stronger non-discrimination  policies than any in the state.

The bill, HB 2881, known as the West Virginia Intrastate Commerce Improvement Act, was filed just Monday and scheduled Tuesday night, displaying Republican’s desire to push it through without time for factual debate.

It mirrors a similar bill that just became law in Arkansas, another that is being debated in Texas, and one that is already law in Tennessee. Opponents say it undermines local control.

HB 2881 is sponsored by Republican Rep. Lynne Arvon (photo), who is also sponsoring an anti-gay, religious license to discriminate bill, the West Virginia Freedom of Conscience Protection Act.

It’s so adorable that they’re hiding their bigotry behind claims that this is all about bringing businesses to the area.

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Do you live in the San Francisco area? You may want to check out Lesbians Who Tech.

The Summit is our marquee event, bringing together over 1,000 LGBTQ women (and allies) across all areas of technology. The Lesbians Who Tech Summit is the only event focused on increasing visibility and tech participation in two historically underrepresented communities: the women’s and queer communities. Join us for our second annual summit starting on February 26 and ending March 1, 2015 in San Francisco, the epicenter of the technology industry. Through this summit and future endeavors, we will bond together to demonstrate our shared commitment to these two critical groups in the tech world.The Lesbians Who Tech Summit will bring together hundreds of queer women in tech (and the people who love them), for the most unique technology conference ever. We will be highlighting incredible queer women who are the next generation of technical leaders, as well as the people who have paved the way.

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In a special report, VICE has been granted access to an organization that performs “gay conversion therapy”

In this special report, VICE gets exclusive access to one of the hundreds of gay-conversion-therapy organizations, groups, and sessions in the United States. At the Journey into Manhood program, men pay more than $600 to attend a weekend retreat where they participate in exercises and activities the staff members claim will help them battle their same-sex ­orientation. The only qualification to become a staff member is to have successfully completed the program.

The report meets with the founder of reparative therapy, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, who is illegally practicing on minors in the State of California, and investigates the controversial legal battle to fight conversion therapy for individuals under 18 years of age. We also travel to the annual Gay Christian Network Conference, speak with former “ex-gay” leaders including John Smid of Love in Action, who is now married to his gay partner, and hear the grueling stories of the individuals who have survived this brutal practice.

I suspect a lot of lies will be exposed in this report, which is a good thing. Far too many people believe in conversion therapy, despite the practice being discredited.

LGBT Link Round Up 2.25.15

The Sensational Spider-Gwen

Last year, Marvel Comics announced a crossover within the Spider-Man family of books called ‘Spider-Verse’. Leading up to that event was a mini series called ‘Edge of Spider-Verse’. Each issue featured brand-new alternate reality versions of spider characters from the mainstream Marvel Universe. One variation, Earth-65’s Spider-Gwen, received an overwhelmingly positive response from fans even before her one-shot hit the stands! Created by writer Jason Latour and artist Robbi Rodriguez, Spider-Gwen’s popularity has resulted in fans writing songs, creating custom-made hoodies, and creating art–lots and lots of art (the groundswell of support for Spider-Gwen has also led to an ongoing series which debuts today-check here to find your local comic book shop). While I’ve featured some examples of that art in the past, there’s plenty more to show off, hence this post. Hope you enjoy!

(from msciuto)
(from David Dunn)
(from veNtriX)
(from Thegerjoos)
(from Celine Kim)
(from Joel Gomez)
The Sensational Spider-Gwen

The Fabulous Art of Jenny Frison

I just happened upon a post over at Bleeding Cool highlighting the alternate covers for Spider-Gwen #1. Among them was one image that really stuck out to me:

That alternate cover is by artist Jenny Frison. More of her lovely work can be found on her DeviantArt page. Here are a few more examples of her awesome art:

The Fabulous Art of Jenny Frison

Pop Culture Link Round Up 10.11.14

Undersea excavators revisit the largest ancient shipwreck ever discovered.

Ancient tableware, lead anchors and a giant bronze spear have been recovered during an expedition to the 2,000-year-old Antikythera shipwreck in Greece.

The treasure-filled sunken shipwas first discovered more than a century ago. Now, undersea excavators who are revisiting the wreck say it actually covers a much bigger area than expected.

“The evidence shows this is the largest ancient shipwreck ever discovered,” Brendan Foley, a marine archaeologist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, said in a statement. “It’s the Titanic of the ancient world.” [In Photos: Mission to 2,000-Year-Old Antikythera Shipwreck]

Over the past few weeks, Foley and his colleagues used a suite of high-tech equipment — they even tested a semi-robotic Exosuit for diving — to explore the famed Antikythera wreck.

The ship, heavy with luxury goods, likely sank sometime between 70 B.C. and 60 B.C. on its way from Asia Minor west to Rome. Sponge fishermen found the wreck in 1900 off the coast of Antikythera, a small Greek island with sheer cliffs positioned along an ancient shipping route. The items those first divers salvaged at the time were sensational: bronze and marble statues of heroes and horses, jewelry, furniture, glassware and the Antikythera mechanism, a complex astronomical calculator. But exploring the site at the time, 180 feet (55 meters) below the surface, proved dangerous. One diver died of the bends and two were left paralyzed, according to WHOI.

Jacques Cousteau revisited the Antikythera wreck decades later and pulled up even more tantalizing objects. To find out what else might be buried beneath the seafloor, Foley and his partners at the Greek Ministry of Culture launched a mission, dubbed the “Return to Antikythera.” Their first excavation season of the mission lasted from Sept. 15 to Oct. 7.

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And Marvel just keeps ’em coming. Early next year will see the release of yet another new series featuring a female lead as the alternate reality version of Gwen Stacy, aka Spiderwoman, will get her own book (in this world, Gwen Stacy was bitten by a radioactive spider, rather than Peter Parker). The buzz thus far from her ONE appearance (in Edge of Spiderverse #2) has been overwhelmingly positive (hell, the buzz from when her character was first announced was of teh good).   Plus, just look at her bad-ass costume:

 

 

 

(via CBR)

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 Because absolutely NO ONE asked for it, we’re gonna get a modern Lost In Space boobtube series.

Deadline is reporting that Legendary is now pushing to resurrect Lost in Space for the 21st century, with Kevin Burns (who owns the rights to the original series) onboard as an executive producer for Synthesis Entertainment, and Dracula Untold screenwriters Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless onboard to script the pilot. That makes Lost in Space the latest instance of Legendary reuniting with a past collaborator (or, in this case, collaborators), with the studio having also hired Godzilla writer Max Borenstein to pen both the Godzilla sequel and the upcoming King Kong origins film Skull Island, and re-teamed with Guillermo del Toro for next year’s haunted house feature Crimson Peak and the upcoming Pacific Rim 2.

I wonder if it will be a sea of white faces this time around…

 

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Guardians of the Galaxy was not a concept I ever thought Marvel would bring to the big screen. But not only did it come to pass, it did hella good ($323.4 million domestic).  So well that it’s getting a sequel in 2016.  Before that comes to pass however, like many successful movie properties, they’re getting an animated tv show.  Here’s the trailer:

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Instagram feed of Disney characters

Pop Culture Link Round Up 10.11.14

Mike Maihack prints for sale!

Mike Maihack is one hell of an artist.  He’s done a series of mini-comics featuring Supergirl and Batgirl that are just awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwesome!  For one week only, he’s decided to put these online prints up for sale:

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Mike Maihack prints for sale!

The Fabulous Art Of: Russell Dauterman

In honor of the release of Thor #1, this seems like a great time to highlight the work of Russell Dauterman, the artist on the interiors.

The Fabulous Art Of: Russell Dauterman

The Fabulous art of: Amanda Conner

Amanda Conner is an American comic bookartist and commercial artillustrator. She began her career in the late 1980s forArchie Comics and Marvel Comics, before moving on to contribute work for Claypool Comics’ Soulsearchers and Company andHarris Comics’ Vampirella in the 1990s. Her 2000s work includes Mad magazine, and such DC Comics characters as Power Girland Atlee.

Her other published work includes illustrations for The New York Times andRevolver magazine, advertising work for products such as Arm & Hammer,Playskool, and design work for ABC’sNightline, commercials for A&E.’s Biographymagazine. (Wiki)

(source)

The Fabulous art of: Amanda Conner