Ah, synchronicity! Yesterday, in my posting “Are You My Bottom?”, I included a section on Tom Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black — partly for the sake of a shot of Daley cradling Black’s bottom as they walk on the street, and partly for the sake of a shot of Daley’s bottom in very brief Speedos. Then today from Randy McDonald on Facebook, a Hornet website story from the 24th, “But Is it Art? Tom Daley Poses Nude for Painter David Hockney” by Dan Avery, the centerpiece of which is this photo by Black, of Daley guying for the camera in front of Hockney’s painting of him:
(#1)
From the Hornet, with Daley in the naïf role:
A Tom Daley nude portrait by artist David Hockney has gotten the diver’s seal of approval: Daley stopped by the esteemed Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) to check out “82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life,” a new exhibition by the 81-year-old gay artist. Husband Dustin Lance Black snapped an Instagram of the out diver recreating the charcoal-and-crayon drawing’s revealing pose.
Daley was was a little embarrassed his mother — who he brought to the museum with hubby Dustin Lance Black — saw him in the altogether, writing “My mum saw me naked!” In a subsequent YouTube video, he revealed the outing was the first art gallery for newborn son Robbie Ray. (Daley and Black welcomed their son, named after Daley’s late father, into the world last month.)
While Daley covers his privates in the picture, his balls poke out slightly — prompting Black to tease mom Debbie Daley that she’d probably seen them before. “Quite a few times,” she replied. “Probably more times than you, Lance!’
‘Well that was definitely weird,’ Tom added. ‘My mum, and my son, seeing me naked. I know my mum’s seen me naked but I was very young when that happened.’
It’s fitting Daley posed for Hockney, who became acclaimed internationally for his watercolor paintings of swimming pools and sunbathers in 1960s Southern California.
On the exhibition, “David Hockney: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life”, 4/15/-7/29 (yes, tomorrow is its last day), from the LACMA site:
(#2) Hockney with a display of his paintings
In 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life, David Hockney offers a vibrant and intimate view of people with whom he has developed relationships over the past 50 years. The majority of the portraits were painted in Hockney’s Los Angeles studio, all from life and over a period of two or three days, which the artist has described as “a 20-hour exposure.” None of Hockney’s portraits are commissioned; for this series he invited family, members of his staff, and close friends to sit for him — including several curators, art dealers, and collectors with local and international renown. John Baldessari, Douglas Baxter, Edith Devaney, Larry Gagosian, Frank Gehry, Peter Goulds, Barry Humphries, David Juda, Rita Pynoos, Joan Quinn, Norman Rosenthal, Jacob Rothschild, and Benedikt Taschen are among those portrayed, as well as LACMA’s Stephanie Barron and Dagny Corcoran. This exhibition originated at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and has traveled to Melbourne, Venice, and Bilbao. LACMA [is hosting] the only United States presentation.
Unsurprisingly, given the subjects, all the portraits are of fully clothed subjects. So where’s Tom Daley?
He’s there, in a nook of his own, along with a huge mural of Hockney’s works:
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