Extravagant Crowd - Carl Van Vechten’s Portraits of Women and Photos of African Americans. Previous post by ND¢: Creative Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten 1932-1964. Also, public domain works from Wikimedia Commons. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 22, 2009 - 3 comments

Pop Life Art and its associated blog focus on celebrity art, heavy on the rock stars. One of my happy discoveries is Martin Mull's collection of collages, but I bemoan the lack of any wildlife art from Radar O'Reilly. If you're a pop culture junkie, here's a little advice on celebrity art collecting from an expert.
posted by madamjujujive on Nov 19, 2007 - 3 comments

From hair styles and hotpants to bellbottoms and boots, this site has amassed a massive fashion photo collection of groovy celebrities and swingin' stars from the '60s and '70s.
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 9, 2007 - 26 comments

In 1997, a geeky little boy from New Mexico became one of the first major web celebrities when he reached out to meet his future girlfriend. He talks about the impact that this unexpected celebrity had on his life. Apparently, after years of eschewing the web, he's all grown up and he's looking for "bois" on MySpace (sound is NSFW). (via szanalmas, possibly NSFW).
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 12, 2007 - 45 comments

The 50 Craziest Pop Stars Ever - unsurprisingly, there is some crossover with the 50 Most Awesomely Dead Rock Stars.
posted by madamjujujive on Feb 25, 2007 - 51 comments

Pablo Lobato is an Argentinian graphic artist who uses color and geometric shape to create witty portraits and caricatures. More works are available at his website (sound & flash alert). His site's select links to other caricaturists are great, including David Cowles who he names as an influence and the brilliant Hannoch Piven.
posted by madamjujujive on Aug 22, 2006 - 15 comments

Retrocrush is celebrating the Year of the Dog with a tribute to the 100 greatest dogs of pop culture history. (via presurfer). Is your favorite famous canine on the list?
posted by madamjujujive on Feb 4, 2006 - 36 comments

Longtime Mefi member chuq offers a tiny respite from the misery with his report on the survival of many of Louisiana's beloved musicians, including the good news that Fats Domino was rescued from his roof. More coverage here and here. (more)
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 2, 2005 - 38 comments

The Great Queers of History - I am sometimes asked, ‘But does it really matter that some historical figure, for example Tchaikovsky, was gay? ... But I like to pose some questions of my own in response: ‘If it doesn't really matter, why has society taken such great pains to conceal Tchaikovsky’s sexuality, maybe even murder him for it? from Lists of famous homosexuals ( ... and a prior related post by anastasiav, Homosexuality in 18th Century England)
posted by madamjujujive on Aug 21, 2005 - 87 comments

Public Lives: Freddie Mercury, Arthur Ashe, Rock Hudson, Brad Davis, Perry Ellis, Eazy E, Michel Foucault, Amanada 'Miss Kitty' Blake, Roy Cohn, Halston, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Rudolf Nureyev, Anthony Perkins, Willi Smith, Liberace, Ricky Wilson. Private lives: Gail Farrow, T Billy, Bob BJ Johnson, Nkoosi Johnson, Terry McCormick, Catherine Margaret Cory. Public or private, we've all had losses. Is there anyone you are remembering today?
posted by madamjujujive on Dec 1, 2003 - 43 comments

Piven World - a fun flash portfolio of celebrity caricatures and portraits. I like his witty technique of incorporating "defining" objects. (via oink!)
posted by madamjujujive on Jul 2, 2003 - 5 comments

Highbrow meets lowbrow - Isabel Samaras uses classic paintings as a springboard to portray the secret lives of pop culture icons like the Addams Family, the cast of Gilligan's Island, Batman & Robin and Tattoo. Fun but NSFW stuff. Check out her portfolio of illustrations too.
posted by madamjujujive on Mar 11, 2003 - 11 comments