k.d. lang Featured in "Gay Icons" Exhibit at London's National Portrait Gallery, Opening Today
k.d. lang has been selected among the unforgettable figures represented in Gay Icons, a new exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in London opening today. For the exhibition, ten notable gay and lesbian figures were asked to select their "icons," people who, whether gay or not, influenced or inspired them. The image of k.d.—a 1992 print by photographer Jill Furmanovsky—was chosen by broadcaster Sandi Toksvig, who chaired the selection committee that also included the likes of Elton John, Billie Jean King, and Ian McKellen, icons in their own right.
In addition to the Furmanovsky photograph of k.d., works by Andy Warhol and Linda McCartney are among the images chosen to represent the selected icons. Those icons include artists Francis Bacon and David Hockney; civil rights pioneer Harvey Milk; writers Quentin Crisp, Daphne Du Maurier, Patricia Highsmith, and Walt Whitman; poet Maya Angelou; composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky; singer Bessie Smith; comedian Ellen DeGeneres; and Nelson Mandela and Diana, Princess of Wales.
Times (UK) reviewer Tim Teeman gives the exhibit four stars, calling it "colourful, intimate and moving. It ranges widely and touches on many lives, famed and unknown."
Gay Icons opens today at the National Portrait Gallery's Wolfson Gallery in London and runs through October 18. An illustrated book (pictured at left), featuring k.d. on the cover, accompanies the exhibition, with over 70 photographs, an introduction by Toksvig, and an essay by Richard Dyer. For more information on both, visit npg.org.uk.
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To learn more about "All Things Quentin Crisp", visit Mr. Crisp's official web site, CRISPERANTO: THE QUENTIN CRISP ARCHIVES, at crisperanto.org or quentincrisp.com
The mission of The Quentin Crisp Archives is to preserve and maintain the manuscripts, letters, recordings, artwork by and about, and various artifacts and ephemera related to the life and legend of Quentin Crisp, and to promote his philosophy of individuality, self-acceptance, and tolerance.
The web site is an integral part of The Quentin Crisp Archives, providing news and information about "All Things Quentin Crisp!" So please check back the site for updates, as well as to review a variety of photographs and reminiscences by family and friends, and you.
Phillip Ward
Literary & Estate Executor for Quentin Crisp
Archivist & Curator for Crisperanto: The Quentin Crisp Archives
crisperanto.org
i think it's great that k.d. lang was exhibited and honored in this group. love this black and white photo of k.d. lang as well. props to her and well deserved. hope to see k.d. lang out there soon and all is well and thanks for posting this.
Wonderful photo of K. D. Lang .
Brave for the photographer!
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