Month: June 2013

“When we criticize art, we are also criticizing the artist. When the artist is a self-portaitist like brielivingston that becomes doubly true. They’re putting themselves out there and it’s a very brave act.”

“brie (if I may be so informal) creates basically, two types of images. They’re alternately classic pin-up style photographs or photoshop collages where he is cut and pasted into scenes from pre-feminist womanhood. Sometimes these it will just be his face, arms and legs photoshopped onto women’s torsos.”

“But always with this same demure expression. It’s like the sphinx. Is he coyly flirtatious? Is he being blackmailed into this position and consequently embarrassed? I can not tell.”

“The idea of a crossdresser idealizing such an outmoded concept of womanhood is charming to me. Drag queens are probably our cultures most visible type of crossdresser, and they are presenting a cartoonish, fetishized exaggeration of womanhood. brielivingston is similarly presenting a cartoon (and I don’t just say that because he’s regularly dressed as Velma Dinkly) but a cartoon of a different stripe. Maybe it’s just because I aesthetically prefer 50’s pin-ups to contemporary pornography, but I think it would be nice if more drag queens went for this aesthetic.”

“Though, I suppose in all honesty, the aesthetic choices of drag queens doesn’t really concern me that much. Also, brielivingston is no shy violet.”

“And for that, brielivingston, you are a True Deviant.”