I'm going to brag on a friend of mine. I met Heyd at a Lydia Lunch show in Austin, TX circa 1997. My roommate Johnny liked him and they had dated briefly, but for whatever reason it didn't work out the first time out. That night, Heyd had invited Johnny out to the show and he brought me along as part insurance, part escape hatch I imagine. Long story short, 13 years later they remain in a committed relationship and whatever your personal beliefs about same sex marriage, that's an admirable run for love; better than a lot of "traditional" marriages I know of personally.
Heyd is a great guy, and I saw him earlier this year when he passed through SC. He is getting a lot of attention with his painting and just last week got this killer review in the Washington Post.
What I like about his painting is that it is personal and real and still interesting and accessible. You don't have to know the people in his paintings to feel as though you do, and looking at his work I realize that what is often missing in my own is that sense of self which he imbues each of his portraits with.
I know yesterday was a pity party, but I'm really feeling beat lately. I wanted to celebrate the success of someone who I know and feel really deserves it.
Bravo, Heyd!
THE VERY QUEER PORTRAITS OF HEYD FONTENOT
Through Dec. 4 at the Art Gallery, 1202 Art-Sociology Building, University of Maryland, College Park. 301-405-2763. http://www.artgallery.umd.edu. Hours: Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: Free. Public program: On Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m., Fontenot will discuss his work with exhibition curator Jonathan Frederick Walz and Anne Collins Goodyear, assistant curator of prints and drawings at the National Portrait Gallery. Free.
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