The Curse of Incompleteness.: May 2009

First... the idea...

With all that has been going on with the gay community over the last year and a half, I have had a lot of time to think about how we got to where we are now. I wanted to somehow show in one piece of art the strides we have made and the miles left ahead of us.

This piece is San Francisco focused; due in large part to the fact that 30 years after his death Harvey Milk has become a pop-icon. Living just a few doors down from what was once Harveys camera shop influences how I see our community.

I am presenting my piece to you in bits and pieces, so you can see all the detail, and not have to ask me why it took almost four months to make. It is to date, my only art piece that has required detailed painting.

These four photographs represent the beauty that is San Francisco.

2''x4'' canvas

I wanted to present a mysticism and generous demeanor in Harvey both as an homage to his own beliefs and as a tribute to the idea of oneness in community and spirit that I typically associate with the Buddha.

7''x5'' canvas

I took this photograph at the special red carpet premiere of the movie "Milk". While the cameras rolled on the star studded premier, between every Harvey Milk backdrop were crowds of protesters trying to sway public opinion on an anti-gay ballot measure. The timing of these events seems so coincidental that it borders on brilliant marketing. You can also see the silhouettes of the flowers representing Harveys penchant for Hawaiian shirts along the top of the marquee.

Another idea was provided in an issue of "the Advocate" (I think, and if it was one of the other gay focused publications, I'm sorry, I cant find it again, so I'm guessing) in which there was both an article talking about a newer gay icon Margaret Cho, and her new show, and an article about the death of Jesse Helms and how it looks like the old hatreds are a dying breed, giving me hope, that one day...

I found the symmetry of these two photos being published in the same magazine too tempting to pass up.

Living right on the corner of Castro and 18th I have been witness to some of the most interesting, unexpected, and angering protests this country has know in decades. Over the last year there were nights of quite sit-in's, there were nights of loud screaming and drumms, and there was even the scary night when the gays got really vicious and had to have the christian sit-in group exavuated for safety. I wanted to find a photo that encompassed all of those emotions.

5''x5'' box canvas

This is the first open gay man ever on the cover of Time magazine. I was not even one month old when this issue came out. Like Harvey, there have been many heros' to the cause, and to be honest, this was the first piece of this painting that I got. Everything else, stems from this.