Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (October 10, 2008)

THEY AREN'T NAKED — THEY ARE NUDE
And that makes the loads of pictures of men in various states of undress in David Leddick's new book artistic pictures as opposed to the other kinds you'll find floating around on, say, Manhunt.

Titled The Nude Male: 21st Century Visions, Leddick's collection of naked men is the work of over 120 different artists including Clive Barker, Tom Bianchi, Nan Goldin, and Sarah Palin (kidding! Just making sure you're paying attention).

Photo (c) Wolfgan Tillmans from THE NUDE MALE by David Leddick, Universe 2008

THe book jacket describes Leddick as "a leading expert on male nude photography". Something tells me about 90% of us here qualify in that category. Just saying... Previously, Leddick published Male Nude Now and Naked Men, Too. (Man, if only I'd known you could make a career out of publishing photos of naked guys!) Leddick is also an author having written the novel My Worst Date as well as the non-fiction book The Secret Lives of Married Men: Interviews with Gay Men Who Played it Straight. 

The Nude Male is an eclectic collection of photos ranging from the erotic to the decidely not erotic. Included are paintings, drawings, straight forward portraits, and Kodak snapshots. Here are a few I thought especially interesting. (BTW, I make no claims insofar as being an art critic!)

Photo (c) Bill Travis from THE NUDE MALE by David Leddick, Universe 2008

This picture struck me as both erotic and tender, the event being depicted either leading up to sex or perhaps just afterward. I'm also fascinated by its "painting" like look, as if one of the great masters such as Rembrandt had painted these two lovers.Only a fundie could try to claim this isn't art.

Photo (c) Michael Stuetz from THE NUDE MALE by David Leddick, Universe 2008

It's not exactly a newsflash that it takes about two clicks of the mouse to find pictures of guys having sex on the internet. What's a whole lot harder to find online, and pretty much anywhere else in American popular culture, are photos of men being romantic, intimate, and portrayed as normal couples. That's what I like so much about this picture — the air of everyday intimacy speaking of a shared life, not just shared bodies. Everyone, straight and gay, could stand to see more images of gay men like this.

Untitled (c) Ross Watson from THE NUDE MALE by David Leddick, Universe 2008

I confess to being utterly fascinated by this painting of the Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears as painted by Ross Watson. The painting is based on a series of pictures Watson took of Shears holding a deer head, but as far as I know Jake never actually ventured to what appears to be northern Scandinavia. Watson's style of painting is arresting, but what truly gets my attention is the weird union of Shears' celebrity placed in such an odd setting. It certainly has me asking questions at any rate.

Next page! What sucked on television this week!