There must be a time in an artist’s life when commercial success and artistry become difficult to separate. Some say that with money and establishment, the true artist is then free to emerge. Norman Jean Roy has long been the go-to photographer for the A-list. From Cate Blanchett to the Black Eyed Peas, Roy has flattered many the artist, musician and model with his soft portraiture lighting in multi-page editorial spreads for Vanity Fair, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour. It was on assignment with the latter for the “Women of the Year” portfolio that Roy met Somaly Mam, a former Cambodian sex slave who was being honored for rescuing and reintegrating women trapped in the sex industry. Continue…

The New York downtown art scene has been relatively quiet this year. Ryan McGinley is off traipsing with the fashion mag elite, as is Dash Snow with his special inserts for Purple magazine, while Terence Koh, known for his fur and feather coats, is busy working on a collaboration with United Bamboo. Sure, there are big name openings like Richard Prince at the Gagosian this past weekend, but where are the next young art stars?

While I can’t offer you much reprieve on the art star front, there is hope yet for the Sue Scott Gallery, the latest of the Lower East Side galleries that have blossomed since the days of Participant, Inc. Continue…

Baby Time

Ashlee Simpson is ready to pop. And to celebrate her impending mommy status, the singer’s sister Jessica and mom Tina hosted a star-studded co-ed baby shower at the posh Bel-Air hotel on Nov. 1 with an adorable Winnie the Pooh theme. According to sources, guests like Nicole Richie and daughter Harlow
noshed on crab cakes, PB&J sandwiches and jicama salad. And for dessert, a bumble bee shaped cake was brought out for Ash. We can just see the steam coming out of jealous big sis Jessica ears now ­ wasn’t she the one who got married first and was supposed to be first in the race to mommyhood? Continue…

“Gilbert and George are taking the piss, aren’t they?” asked Billy Bragg on his song Take Down the Union Jack. It’s a pertinent question, but not the only conundrum surrounding the notorious but much loved artistic double act. Since meeting at St Martins College in London in the late ’60s, Gilbert and George have led a confounding, contradictory existence. At once remarkably transparent — presenting themselves as “living sculptures,” with their matching suits and exclusive artistic focus on their own bodies and the half-mile area surrounding their shared East London home — and frustratingly enigmatic, their works are intimate yet commercial, offering wry social commentary in the same breath as scatological schoolboy humor. Continue…