The Vatican launched a holy war against homosexual families yesterday, decreeing that any moves to license same-sex marriages or gay adoption are “legalizing evil.”

“Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law,” the Catholic Church said. “Under no circumstances can they be approved.”

In a toughly worded salvo aimed primarily at Catholic politicians, the church branded gay sex “serious depravity,” gay marriage “deviant” and adoption by lesbians and gays as “doing violence” to children.

…

Catholics must fight against the spreading tolerance of gay sex, the Vatican declared in its policy statement, which was approved by the pontiff.

Such tolerance exposes children to “erroneous ideas” and violates Christian duty to speak out against immorality, it said. .“The legalization of evil is something far different from the toleration of evil,” the church said.

— source

The Catholic Church is telling people in countries stricken by AIDS not to use condoms because they have tiny holes in them through which HIV can pass – potentially exposing thousands of people to risk.

The church is making the claims across four continents despite a widespread scientific consensus that condoms are impermeable to HIV.

A senior Vatican spokesman backs the claims about permeable condoms, despite assurances by the World Health Organisation that they are untrue.

— source

This seems like an appropriate time to re-post some of my disco MP3s

Sylvester – You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

Thelma Houston – Don’t Leave Me This Way

Vicky Sue Robinson – Turn The Beat Around

Like most people, I am more likely to look at the photo reports from Artnet.com’s magazine section than the articles — except for Jerry Saltz. One of the main providers of those photos, Nancy Smith, is now out on her own. I helped her with the programming for the site, and the first Art Lovers New York report on the new site is now live.

The magazine and blog-esque parts of the site will be launched in a bit, now that the first new photos are up.

P.S. All of my art and culture links are now on ArtCal.

White King
50″ × 56″
Oil on canvas

We saw one of Butler’s paintings when we visited Van Brunt at the DiVA Fair. There is now a show at the gallery, located in Beacon, NY. Does the name sound familiar? Butler is better known as the founder of the Psychedelic Furs. I was told by Carl Van Brunt that he went to art school, and decided to make a career in music after being told by a professor that only a handful of visual artists in England actually made a living with their art.

Sounds worth a day trip, especially for those of us who grew up with New Wave.

I haven’t posted much about politics lately, since I don’t think there is much point in doing so. However, I can’t keep quiet on how revolting religion is in America (and elsewhere). There are those that argue I’m throwing the baby out with the bathwater whenever I refer to banning religion, but I don’t see any positive aspect of religion at this point. Items:

• Jesse Jackson gets involved= on the side of Terri Schiavo’s parents. Sure, Jesse – go chase those television cameras, and don’t bother picking an issue like the death penalty, or the drug laws, or the fact that one in five adults in America live in poverty.

• Democratic politicians like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry (as cosponsor with Santorum!) support a law that makes it easier for religious organizations, and religious people in general, to be anti-gay. We already give these people tax subisidies. Do we have to make it easier for them to avoid anti-discrimination laws too?

I see no good use for religion in America. Other civilized countries use the government to provide for the poor. They don’t give large subisidies (and actual tax dollars directly) to have them provide a lot of services and healthcare for the less fortunate.

The next time I see a crowd like this:

Protesters pray during a mass outside the Woodside Hospice where Terri Schiavo is a patient on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 in Pinellas Park, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

outside of a prison about to execute someone, or at a Army recruiting station, or protesting the war in Iraq, maybe I will reconsider, but at this point religion exists primarily as a reactionary force to be battled by all decent people.

Never, ever go to MoMA on a day when one wants to use the coat check. There was a 20+ minute line, and that was for the “members” line.

I look at several photo blogs, but Mica Scalin’s Hello? is the first video blog I’ve seen. She has some older entries on the video art fair DIVA.

I’m intriuged by the courses in modern and contemporary art at MoMA. The member price of $130 is quite good. Does anyone have an opinion on them? James and I might consider taking one, since neither of us have any art history background.

Alternatively, if some of my readers could help me come up with a good reading list on art history, I would really appreciate it. Any period is fine as long as it’s a good text on the subject.

Joe is now part of the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum, according to Artnet.

Collectors Janice and Mickey Cartin have given the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Conn., a group of 104 photographs ranging in date from 1949 to 1983 by 12 contemporary artists: Roger Ballen, Zarina Bhimji, Edward Burtynsky, Frank Breuer, Lucinda Devlin, Olafur Eliasson, Esko Männikkö, Arnold Odermatt, Lorraine O’Grady, Joe Ovelman, Collier Schorr and Chris Verene. A selection of the acquisition goes on view at the museum in “Old Masters/New Directions: A Decade of Collecting,” Aug. 6-Dec. 18, 2005.

For more on Joe, visit his website.

Updated: James pointed out that the range 1949-1983 doesn’t make much sense when we’re talking about the work of Joe Ovelman (or Collier Schorr and Chris Verene).

A photograph of a celebrity is a thing, not a picture.

- Rachel Harrison

I don’t actually feel this way. I’ve found denial to be very effective. I just like the comic.