I just felt like recording that I am and have always been a monarchist.
This beautiful portrait has hung on my wall for decades.
I bought a print at The National Portrait Gallery in London in the 70's.
Some Royal Sightings
HM Queen Elizabeth: From the first visit in 1954 when I was 5 and when I saw her in Toowoomba I then recall standing in the sun as thousands of school kids were assembled in the Show Grounds in the 60's a great midnight in the late 70's when all dressed up (in ballet tights etc.) and rather drunk, I and a group of friends went out into the dark and the rain to watch her drive past. She looked asleep in the back of the slowed car until Prince Philip nudged her in the ribs so she could acknowledge a lone bunch of dedicated fans with their noses pressed against the window. She sat up and gave us a wave. That was the closest encounter. It is a wonder we weren't tackled by the escort police. That flat I lived in for several years was a great place to receive accidental Royal waves. Princess Alexandra once waved as I sat in the window of my flat and Prince Charles stuck his head out the window and waved up at me while I was watering plants in my front sun room on the second floor. Walking through London one day I saw her Majesty drive past. No one else noticed so I waved of course. A lovely day on a boat on the river with lots of Champagne in the early 80's as the Royal Yacht Britannica sailed in to Brisbane and the Queen stood on the deck watching us and the hundreds of other parties on the river. We made a photo in the social pages with champagne glasses held high for that one
The spectacular arrangement of 'God Save The Queen' by Benjamin Britten. My absolute favourite version. Performed at the 2010 'Last night of the Proms' at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
A true Renaissance boy. Guatemalan in birth, New York resident and person of the world. His singing is performance art, he is a painter, he is an actor, he is a film maker and I presume this young man is many things more. I have him in some movies on DVD ('Eban and Charley' and Bruce Labruce's 'Otto; or Up With Dead People') and of course I have been following his appearances all over the world on the internet. He pops up at gallery openings, clubs, concerts, festivals, in the street and at functions and parties that unfortunately I am not attending. He gives one faith in originality and talent.Certainly I am impressed. Gio Black Peter's astoundingly involved blog can be seen listed under my collection of brilliant admired and inspiring people on the right of this page. I have added just two of his videos with his permission just to give you a taste. There are many stage shows, short films, performance pieces and images of his art works on his and other Blogs or just search You Tube. Not only is he beautiful in body and temperament, but he exudes a vibrant joy that is refreshing. He belongs in my list of favourite persons. I did write and have exchanged several emails with this lovely person. I have also purchased one of the original drawings from his 2010 collection Pinnochio's Revenge.
The Video that was posted, banned, posted again, banned etc and eventually accepted and gone again. You may have to search for some of his work or go to galleries where they are presented. Gio is New York based and is an actor, performer, artist, singer, composer, film maker and wonderful. I don't believe in censorship and neither does Gio or Bruce.
Gio Black Peter's REVOLVING DOOR (New Fuck New York) music video directed. by Bruce LaBruce from 'The Virgin Shuffle' CD
GIO BLACK PETER (born Giovani Paolo Andrade Guevara) was born in Guatemala and emigrated illegally to the United States with his family at the age of five. The name Black Peter is taken from the folkloric elf who delivers "bad" presents to bad children on Christmas. A performance artist as well as an ardent visual artist, he examines text and subject, believability and fakery, authority and multiplicity. His psychosexual events, which act as a slap in the face of social convention, quickly turned him into one of the young artists who participate in today's dialogue regarding the new reality (the falling apart of the high profile white box presentation and the desire to bring art closer to the people). At the core of Black Peter's thinking lies the idea that the life of art is dependent upon the willingness of the viewer to suspend his/her orientation and play both in the believability of lies and the falsehoods appearing true-to-life. Familiarity and seductive appearance keep the viewer returning to his art, which poses doubt and reflection at its core. The artist carefully uses selected formats, techniques and images, some of which were generated by advertising and entertainment agencies for their efficaciousness and uses them to participate in a system of manipulation. The moment the viewers experience attraction to the art, they too are implicated. While the original purpose of the mass media images is to sentimentalize, glamorize, capture and thereby close-off the experience from question, Black Peter represents this information so as to reveal the fake and redirect the examination to his agenda.
After one of the bannings Gio sent this message
This morning I woke up to find my new music video REVOLVING DOOR (New FUCK New York) dir by Bruce LaBruce was deleted from my Vimeo account followed by this perfectly civil computer generated response:
Dear gio black peter:
Your video 'Gio Black Peter - Revolving Door (New Fuck New York)' has been removed for violating the Upload Rules of Vimeo.com: Vimeo does not allow pornography or sexually explicit material.
If you believe this was an error, please reply to this email in a civil manner with your reasoning ("I see other people do it" is not a valid reason).
Regards, Vimeo
There is nothing civilized in condemning nudity or sex. The most naturally thing in the universe. If my video would have been a horrific scene from an unjustified war or a shitty hollywood film glorifying violence then there would not have been a problem. We are ok with watching youtube videos of morons casually beating each other to a pulp but we are STILL not ok with SEX? This is why It it important that we who are mentally freed from religious and conservative oppresion challenge the system in any way possible. It is just a video now but if this continues as it has been you will find yourself with less and less civil liberties.
x
gbp
Get the new CD 'The Virgin Shuffle' on CD or iTunes
Now this is exciting:- I was surprised to find my name on the inside of the cover of the CD. This is very special to me. I had to scan it and place it here. Thank you Gio. To be mentioned in the same paragraph as such luminaries as Bruce LaBruce, Slava Mogutin and Patti Smith etc is a buzz.
Use the Search button on the right and you will find several more entries on Gio Black Peter on this blog. An Update
Gio sent me a lovely photo of himself with a book I had sent to him in January 2013. I also got a kiss. The same day I received a treasure in return from Gio.
