Hold Up Art presents Fist Pump, a collection of new work from Los Angeles-based activist and street artist Homo Riot, whose highly charged, and sometimes sexually explicit imagery, became part of the city’s social landscape in response to the 2008 passing of Proposition 8 (a measure on the state ballot that overturned the California Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry).  Homo Riot’s message started out as a “fuck you” to the supporters of Prop 8, but has morphed into something larger and more profound. Seen now as an emblem of pride and strength to the gay community, Homo Riot’s work has become a line of communication to young gays who feel that they’ve been shunned by mainstream society and a call to action for silenced and closeted gays.

“The work in this show explores the dichotomy between the often hidden and dark realms of gay life and the simultaneous desire for visible exuberance,” says Homo Riot of Fist Pump. “In these pieces, the fusion of these disparate concepts leads to awkward explosions of ‘pride’ and naïve outbursts of youthful anger and rage.”

The exhibition at Hold Up Art follows the month-long Global Homo Riot, a subversive campaign throughout September with the goal to increase visibility of homosexual imagery, to spur conversation and awareness about issues facing homosexuals around the world, and to engender pride and hope in young gays. Artists from around the world have requested Global Homo Riot “kits,” which contain posters, stickers and stencils with instructions on how and where to apply the artwork to make a statement in their own communities.

Participants who registered for the Global Homo Riot campaign include artists from major metropolitan areas like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami, as well as from smaller communities like New Haven, CT; Richmond, VA; Jacksonville, FL; San Jose, CA; Carmel, IN; and Rossford, OH. International participants have registered from Paris, London, Athens, Berlin, Sydney and Barcelona.

“Homo Riot elevates the street art game by combining his activism with his art,” says Hold Up Art curator Brian Lee. “There are thousands of people in LA alone that are pasting up posters, yet only a handful contain a message and meaning that is both self promoting while at the same time being socially and politically aware and engaging.  Homo Riot’s work cannot be mistaken for another artist, and every one of his images confronts the viewer in a modern day western stand-off; a direct social and aesthetic conflict, and an open call to anyone who challenges.”

Homo Riot’s bold imagery and social message have established him as one of the most provocative and inspiring street artists in the United States

OPENING OCTOBER 22 @ HOLD UP GALLERY, DOWN TOWN LOS ANGELES

This piece previously seen @ Belfast Pride has been reworked by Adonis Gallery as an ode to Abercrombie & Fitch’s homerotic advertising campaigns. Abercrombie state that their advertising is not meant to specifically target the gay community but there is no doubt that many images are homoerotic.

From Commercial Closet. ” With nonstop pictures of beefcake, clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has not only taken the gay community by storm but straight young men in college as well.

The company’s black & white magazine ads feature young men streaking through campus, in the showers pulling down others’ boxers and fully nude posteriors on the beach. One insert to Vanity Fair showed a middle-aged man and young man in playful, romantic poses aboard a sailboat, an ad that many read as a gay couple — even though in reality they were the son and grandson of actor John Wayne.

Although the Reynoldsburg, Ohio retailer’s advertising — including this one — appeared in OUT magazine over the years, A&F spokesman Hampton Carney said the company doesn’t target the gay market. “We really market to 18-22 year old college students,” he said.

The company has never feared that its advertising appeared too gay, Carney said. He then added, “It’s a shame almost, that it’s been pigeonholed as homoerotic.”

Many were upset when an article in New York magazine about the American version of controversial Brit hit “Queer As Folk” (aired in the US on Showtime) pointed out that the retailer would not allow product placements in the show, along with other fashion brands Versace, Perry Ellis, Ralph Lauren, Prada, Anne Klein, Old Navy and Casio, along with the NFL and Pittsburgh Steelers. Some of the companies later claimed they were not asked and A&F said it never loans product for placements.

The successful quarterly magalogue has brought some trouble to A&F, for its occasional male nudity (shrink wrapping coupled with an age disclaimer were added in 1998) and for appearing to encourage alcohol consumption among youth. The magalogue and ongoing ad campaigns over the last four years have been created by celebrity art photographer Bruce Weber and Sam Shahid, creative director of Shahid & Co., New York.

The two have worked together for 15 years, starting at Calvin Klein in 1981, where they helped win acceptance of the male body in mass media. They put up a larger-than-life billboard in Times Square of a muscled man in white briefs that became synonymous with Klein ? a brand that now has tremendous currency in the gay community. Back then, the nearly nude male was considered taboo in a business that used women’s bodies to sell most anything.

From there, Weber and Shahid moved to Banana Republic, where in 1992 they created a sensation with the “Free Souls” ad insert into Vanity Fair. In a sensual series of six heterosexual couples, the insert closed on a male couple, arms entwined. Shahid had to insist that the couple be included when he created the ad.

Openly gay Shahid said that Abercrombie has never been concerned about his work appearing too gay. Yet like A&F, he is uncomfortable talking about the advertising in terms of its appeal to the gay market. He focuses on its universal appeal, noting that heterosexuals love the advertising as much as gays.”

www.commercialcloset.org

This painting will be available in October

Prints now available from Saatchi

Born in Catanzaro, Italy, where he lives and works, Claudio Parentela is an illustrator, painter, photographer, mail
artist, cartoonist, collagist and journalist. Active for many years in the international underground scene, he
collaborates with many contemporary paper & web magazines and comics around the world. During 1999, he was
guest of the Break 21 Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia. His obscure & crazy artworks are shown in many galleries on
the endless web

Claudio Parentela

Street Artist ‘Homo Riot’ is about to go global.

Get on board with the Global Homo Riot taking place in September. Registration will end September 1 so do it today. Register at Homoriot@gmail.com

REGISTER HERE NOW

Random Street Art: Virgin Mary by Free Humanity, location Melrose Avenue, USA.

Taken from The Dirt Floor

London’s young queer artist and curator Stuart Sandford has just released a portfolio of prints called ‘Private’. The portfolio consists of 12 stunning 8 x 10 prints of Stuart, his friends, and lovers. More information on this can be found at Stuarts website. www.stuartsandford.co.uk