Robert Mapplethorpe's stunning and sexually-charged images started critics and conservatives. While some said his sexuality tainted his work, Sylvia Wolf claims the late artist's identity as a gay man and as a photographer go hand-in-hand:

Within his first year of taking pictures, Mapplethorpe also began to explore his sexual attraction to men, trying to determine whether he was gay, straight or bisexual, and the Polaroid camera became an accomplice and an aid. As he embraced homosexuality, he made dozens of photographs of handsome young men gazing at the camera with sultry come-hither looks or staring past the photographer in states of suspended consciousness. For his subjects, being photographed by Mapplethorpe was often an erotic experience. For Robert, taking pictures was a means of seduction and a catalyst for sex.

May be should be taking more shots, huh?

[Image Source]

Art fags can stop wishing on stars, eyelashes and dandelions: British singer Elton John has decided to share his art collection with the masses. Or so say married gossip mongers Rush & Molloy:

Elton John will spend millions to build a gallery at his British estate showcasing some of his more than 2,500 photos, including works by Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol and Herb Ritts, says a source. The musician also will build a house for a curator…

No word on where interested parties can apply - don't worry, you're probably not qualified.

(Thanks PBR Chicken for the spot on image!)

Some VIP Cubans were all about Robert Mapplethorpe last night, when Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon hosted a private showing of the late Mapplethorpe's contentious works. This exhibit definitely ain't something you'd see fifteen years ago, when Cuba first legalized same-sex sex.

In one on of Mapplethorpe's most iconic - and most controversial - images, a man inserts his finger into his urethra. Not surprisingly, Mapplethorpe's sensual focus found many a conservative combatant. One of the most prominent examples can be found in Cincinnati, The city tried - and acquitted - the Contemporary Arts Centre and its director, Dennis Barrie for obscenity after they displayed Mapplethorpe's The Perfect Moment. How the times have changed.

Cuba - once a bastion of official homophobia - continues to evolve on social issues, however slowly. The government continues to debate including gays under the 1970s-era Family Code, nor do gays have the right to assembly.

(Note: A Bit "NSFW" after the jump.)

CONTINUED »

• Robert Mapplethorpe makes it to Cuba finally. The exhibit of iconic photographer's work is a symbol of just how far attitudes towards homosexuals have changed. [ABC]

• Rich over at Four Four dissects Throbbing Gristle’s classic and Billie Ray Martin’s cover of “Persuasion.” We love both versions, but definitely choose Billie. And it has nothing to do with that fact that she reads Queerty. [Four Four]

• Is this a joke? Or is this queen serious about his desire to win weblog awards? Oh wait, he advertises with us. He must be serious. [Brat Boy School]

• And now we cannot wait for the biggest bitch in blogging to attack. We smell a blog bitch fight! [Vividblurry]

• Like American Apparel, we are all about sodomy during the holidays. Except not with reindeers. [American Apparel]